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Oil Prices Climb on Fears of Confrontation; Two U.S.-Flagged Merchants Successfully Transit Strait of Hormuz; Cooler Air in the Forecast; Raul Torrez is Interviewed about the Meta Trial; Omar Nok is Interviewed about Traveling without Flying. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 04, 2026 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[08:31:39]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have some new information just coming in on the developing situation out of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command posting and announcing, we'll show you this, just moments ago, that "two U.S.-flagged merchant ships have now successfully made their way through the Strait." This comes as President Trump says that American forces are starting today to guide ships through this critical waterway. CENTCOM is also calling out and denying reports from earlier this morning that came from Iranian state media when it said that U.S. war -- a U.S. warship was struck by Iranian missiles near the Strait. Again, CENTCOM denying that that happened.

Oil prices dipped briefly this morning in response to all of this news. But with this major disruption to global -- the global oil supply continuing to play out, some have started to ask the question, why can't the U.S., even the world, just drill its way out of this problem if the Strait is shut down. It is clearly not as simple as a political slogan might suggest.

CNN's David Goldman taking a look at this question.

What are you finding in this?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, it's the number one question I think I get asked, which is, you know, well, if we have a supply problem, then can't we just drill more oil? And it's not that simple, unfortunately.

The problem is, is that, well, we are drilling more oil. We're actually drilling an historic amount of more oil.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

GOLDMAN: But it's hundreds of thousands of barrels a day that we're able to produce. And we have a 14 million barrel a day shortage because of the Strait of Hormuz. So, it is a drop in the bucket.

Even if we could do it, then you have to be able to put it somewhere. And all of those tankers, there's hundreds of tankers that are stuck in the Strait of Hormuz. And it's undoubtedly a good thing that we're starting to get them out of the Strait. But it's going to take a long time. So, let's just say you solve that problem, then you have to refine it. We haven't built a new refinery in this country since 1977. So, you can't do anything useful with the oil once you get it out of the ground.

But oil prices are really high right now. And so that's starting to incentivize companies to actually start to do something about this problem. And so, they're looking at, where can we drill oil and are prices going to stay high long enough for them to make a profit on it? So, the answer is, maybe. And there are some good places to do it to. Certainly Venezuela. It's a fixer upper. You know, it's not something that you can do right away, but it used to produce 3.5 million barrels of oil a day. And with some investment, a lot of investment, you can get it back there. But also Argentina and Brazil are --

BOLDUAN: This takes time, though.

GOLDMAN: Yes, it's not something quick (ph).

BOLDUAN: This is not a six-month fix, David.

GOLDMAN: This is not a six month fix. That's the thing is that when you drill oil today, you might not get that for five to ten years down the road. So, the investment is important. But this isn't a problem that you're going to fix today.

So, thank you for coming to my TED talk on this.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Thank you for David Goldman's daily TED talk for all of us.

Thank you, David, you're the best.

GOLDMAN: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: And here we see West Texas, where it stands at the moment.

All righty. Joining -- J.B., where are you? There you are.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Oh, my God.

BERMAN: Hi.

BOLDUAN: Where -- who am I? Why am I here?

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

I'm John. Nice to meet you.

BOLDUAN: Hi, my name's Kate. Nice to meet you.

BERMAN: Nice to see you. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Do we do TV together?

BERMAN: We've got -- I'll see you. I'm John. It's good to see you.

BOLDUAN: Have we anchored together for like 35,000 years?

[08:35:01]

BERMAN: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: Apologies. What?

BERMAN: With us now, CNN's senior military analyst, retired Admiral James Stavridis.

Admiral, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Kate especially thanks to you.

Listen, we just got this tweet from U.S. Central Command that says "two U.S.-flagged merchant vessels have successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz and are headed safely on their journey" there.

This comes after President Trump announced overnight that somehow U.S. vessels were going to guide ships out of the Strait. I'm going to put up a picture of live traffic right now in the Strait.

To be honest, we haven't seen a lot of movement here. But we did just get that message from CENTCOM. What do you think that means, that two U.S. merchant vessels have transited the Strait and are now safely on that journey?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Those are very brave merchant captains who made that decision, considering we don't have a good picture of the mine situation. Are their mines? Are there a lot of mines? We don't know. Certainly the attacks by the Iranians have continued. The threat is certainly still there because of the drones.

So, my hats off to the merchant captains who made that decision to go evidently unescorted through the Strait. That's a pretty risky proposition for those big merchants loaded up with oil.

What needs to happen is, if we're going to undertake an escort program like this, got to get organized, got to get them in convoys, got to put guided missile frigates and destroyers with them, got to sweep for mines. A lot of work to do before that Strait is actually fully open.

BERMAN: All right, we should note that after the president made this announcement, the Iranians put out this new map of the Strait of Hormuz. It's sort of like an old version, but a new map that they put out where they indicate that this is where they're blockading the Strait, here and here. Everything else inside here, you know, no man shall pass. Basically the Iranians say they control that. This is their version of the situation.

But, Admiral, I'm so glad you're here because you can help explain. The president says the U.S. is going to guide vessels out. But sources tell us that doesn't mean escort them out. So, what's the difference exactly?

STAVRIDIS: Let's begin with this kind of tale of two blockades. You've shown one there. And it's not as simple for the Iranians as getting out a green Sharpie or a red Sharpie and drawing a line. In order to really enforce that, they're going to have to have a lot of, not only mines, they're going to use small boats, they're going to use drones. So, they've got capability and capacity but it's a challenge. The U.S. Navy blockade, which is a thousand miles of Iranian coastline, continues apace. And the hope is that that will put economic pressure on the Iranians and get them back to the table.

In terms of escort or guide, to me, those aren't technical military terms. But to me, an escort would be, think basketball. It would be pretty close to a man-to-man kind of defense. You put probably five merchants together, put a guided missile cruiser with them, and you'd drive through the Strait together to give them protection. Think of that as escort.

In terms of guide them, you might think, zone defense. You'd kind of put up a few guided missile ships and then the merchants would go, if you will, from safe spot to safe spot, going through.

John, we should not underestimate the effort it will take to open the Strait and keep it open. Think one aircraft carrier, two dozen guided missile destroyers, half a dozen frigates, 300 Air Force aircraft, 50 Army. I'm not trying to drag you into military porn here, but it would take a lot of capacity to keep that Strait open.

BERMAN: Yes, we have internet blockages for that if you try to bring us there.

Listen, Admiral, while we have you, I want to move from your knowledge of the Strait, where you've transited several times, to your knowledge as, you know, former NATO supreme allied commander. President Trump says he's removing thousands, 5,000, 6,000 troops from Germany. Obviously, a NATO ally there. What impact will that have?

STAVRIDIS: Let's do the numbers. There are 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe. So, 5,000 is five percent. It's hardly a death blow to NATO or to U.S. forces Europe. On the other hand, it has high symbolic content. Our largest concentration of troops, about 30,000, are in Germany. And it also kind of rattles fears in other places where we have troops, such as northern Italy, Spain, we have a large concentration of guided missile destroyers. And all of these European countries derive benefit from those troops. There's a huge economic impact on their economy.

[08:40:02]

So, I think this is symbolic. It's a sign of displeasure on the part of the president.

Final thought, John. I am hopeful that the Europeans will, in fact, participate in a mission to open the Strait. This may provide some impetus to get that to happen. BERMAN: Well, we will see. We are obviously watching that closely, and

we are watching the situation in the Strait very closely right now to get a better sense of if or how, just how open it has become.

Thank you, Admiral. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, thanks, J.B.

Look, it's a -- now become a very cool way to start off May. Temperatures running well below early May averages. And there are even frost and freeze alerts in certain spots.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking this one for us.

Derek, where are you watching closely?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kate, I know you've got your Midwest roots, just like me. So, you're familiar with the roller coaster that is the spring season. We're living it in real time if you're east of the Rockies.

Here's a look at the temperatures right now. They're pretty comfortable in my mind. But you look past this weekend, it was cool, right? So, we've got a brief warm up, but then wait till you see what's going to happen in this temperature roller coaster this week.

OK, so this is just a snapshot of what the day will bring. Temperatures in the 80s and lower 70s, depending on where you're located. This high pressure is the impetus between bringing a little bit more humid air into the eastern half of the country. But this cold front is going to battle that.

And it's going to trigger off a few different things, storms, and then we have the potential for some snow. So, I really want to quickly highlight this push and pull between the winter and spring season because if you're in Denver, you're all too familiar with it as well. The I-25 corridor has winter storm watches with warnings for the foothills. Get this, they could pick up over two feet outside of the city of Denver. That's impressive. Good news, though, for the snowpack in the mountains that was teetering on that record low snowpack total.

Look at this. This is for today. Just a marginal risk of severe weather, large hail, damaging winds. That does include St. Louis and Chicago. It's thanks to this cold front that's going to march eastward. But look at what it's going to do. There's the snow across the Rockies. But then by tomorrow and into Wednesday, that's when we start to see the severe weather chances kind of ramp up. You can see across Arkansas, parts of Texas, into the deep south for the day on Wednesday.

But this is the cold front and this is what's triggering the potential for severe weather. Lots of blue on this map. That's representative of the chilly temperatures. We're talking 10 to 20 degrees below where we should be this time of year for places like Chicago. Look at this drop off in St. Louis, from 81 today to 59 tomorrow with the rain. More of the same into the windy city. And, yes, we don't see the temperature recovery until this weekend.

Kate.

Enjoy it while it lasts, I guess.

BOLDUAN: I don't know, it just is what it is, but that is quite a drop.

VAN DAM: That is.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Derek. Thank you so much.

VAN DAM: That's right. It's a roller coaster. You got it.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is in a Florida hospital where he is said to be in critical condition. A spokesperson for the 81-year-old tells CNN he is stable and did not say why he is in the hospital. Giuliani was last seen Friday on his streaming show "America's Mayor Live," where he told viewers that his voice was a little under the weather.

The president posted on social media, calling Giuliani a, quote, "true warrior, and the best mayor in the history of New York City."

Happening now, a search underway for two U.S. service members who went missing in Morocco during training exercises. A U.S. military official told "The New York Times" at least one of the soldiers was believed to have fallen off a cliff into the sea during a hike. Other military personnel rushed to create this human chain down the cliff to attempt a rescue, but a large wave swept one or two of them into the -- into the sea. That's according to "The New York Times." The soldiers were participating in joint exercises led by the U.S. in Morocco. About 5,000 personnel from more than 40 countries were scheduled to participate in those exercises.

So, Spirit Airlines shut its doors on what was supposed to be a pilot's last day flying. So, how a rival airline stepped up to make that retirement day special.

And, question, how do you travel all the way around the world? The answer? Carefully. One more question. How do you do it without an airplane? We'll find out.

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[08:48:09]

BOLDUAN: So, back in court today, and beginning the second phase of what is a landmark lawsuit. Attorneys for Meta and the state of New Mexico set to face off once again in this ongoing child safety case that could determine whether this tech giant will be declared a public nuisance. In March, the Facebook parent company lost the first round of this trial, which centered on claims brought by New Mexico's attorney general that Meta had failed to safeguard children on its apps from sexual predators. A jury found Meta liable and ordered it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Well, now the state is pushing for sweeping changes to how Meta's platforms operate. Platforms, of course, that include, I mentioned, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta argues that the changes being called for, these demands, go too far. The company is now threatening to stop operating in the state altogether because of it.

Joining me now is the attorney general of New Mexico, who has been spearheading this case, Attorney General Raul Torrez.

Thanks for being here, Attorney General. I appreciate the time.

What does today mean in your fight against Meta now?

RAUL TORREZ, NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, to a certain extent, phase two could be even more consequential in our fight to hold this tech giant accountable and to create a safer digital environment for our kids.

BOLDUAN: And tell me how.

TORREZ: Well, we have an opportunity to present specific design changes, real age verification, an end to infinite scroll, autoplay features, trying to stop push notifications during the school day, overnight, and really address some of the addictive features that we know are having an adverse impact on our kids, but also to shut down the predatory behavior that came to light in the testimony we offered in the first phase of this case.

[08:50:02]

BOLDUAN: And what Meta is saying is that your focus on a single platform, if you will, they say it's misguided, and it ignores hundreds of other apps that teens use every day. So, essentially saying that you're not really getting at the whole problem. What do you say to that?

TORREZ: Well, Meta likes to really remind its investors and the market what a big player it is in this space. It also happens to be the largest marketplace for predatory behavior anywhere in the world. So, it makes sense for us to start with them.

The things that we're focused on, though, are really, you know, zeroing in on the design features of the algorithm and on those platforms and the way in which they've actually facilitated sexual exploitation in New Mexico and around the world.

BOLDUAN: So on -- at least when it comes to some of these changes, and especially when you're talking about blocking users under the age of 13 from accessing Meta's apps, Meta says that you're effectively requiring Meta shut down its services for all of its users in the state, or comply with what they describe as impossible obligations. So, Meta is now threatening to pull itself out of the state. Pull Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp from the state entirely. Are you OK if that is the eventual outcome if you get more safe -- more safety online for kids?

TORREZ: Well, look, this is a choice that Meta needs to make. I mean they've obviously redesigned their platforms to comply with different requirements in place all over the world. The E.U. has a different framework. They have a different framework in Asia and other parts of the globe.

And what's interesting is, you know, New Mexico is a relatively small state. It seems like they're continuing to prioritize profits over safety. I am concerned that they don't place the well-being of American kids on the same level as they do, you know, in maintaining market access in other countries. But this isn't really about feasibility. It's about the choice that Meta and its executives have made to continue to prioritize engagement.

What they're really afraid of is showing the American people that a safer environment can be built from the ground up.

BOLDUAN: General, though, do you think that -- is this somewhat then about, I don't know, calling their bluff? You don't think they actually would leave the state? Or if it comes to that.

TORREZ: Well, listen, I think it's a bit of a PR stunt. It's a bit of an intimidation tactic. But it's not -- it's not going to work. If you -- if you step back and think about the legal landscape, there are 41 other attorneys general from all over the country who are pursuing exactly the same types of claims. And there's really no place to run. There's no place to hide for this company. They can try and intimidate and bully us in New Mexico. It isn't going to work. I'm not going to back down. My constituents don't want me to sacrifice child safety for a platform's business in this state that continues to prioritize their own profits.

At the end of the day, the company would be better served taking that energy and building a safer product.

BOLDUAN: Is there a single structural change that you think is most important, or you could see kind of as, if this is done, this could be satisfactory?

TORREZ: Well, we've set out a sweeping list of changes --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

TORREZ: That we identified as being complete -- you know, directly related to the psychological harm, the ending of infinite scroll, the design features that actually surface predatory behavior and facilitate connections.

I think the most important thing is real age verification. Real age verification is what allows the platform to curate a different type of experience for young people and make sure they're safer online.

BOLDUAN: Attorney General Raul Torrez, thank you so much for being here today. Appreciate your time.

John.

BERMAN: All right, three cruise ship passengers have died, three others are sick following what the World Health Organization calls a rare but deadly respiratory illness. They say the passengers were infected with hantavirus. According to the CDC, humans can get infected through contact with rodents, especially urine, droppings and saliva. It's not clear how the infections occurred this time. All three who died were passengers on the ship. It did begin its journey in South America, which, of course, is where this virus is most prevalent. It is now docked off the coast of Cape Verde, off west Africa.

One person was found dead inside a car that smashed into a health club in Portland, Oregon. The car was reportedly filled with several homemade explosives and propane tanks. Some of the devices found had detonated. No other injuries reported.

Captain Jon -- Joe. No, Jon. Captain Jon Jackson was supposed to fly his retirement flight with Spirit Airlines but could not after the airline shut down, closed business. So, he boarded a Southwest Airlines flight home with his son, who works for Southwest as a first officer. And that son was able to pull off a surprise retirement sendoff.

[08:55:00]

When Captain Jackson landed in Baltimore, he was met with a water cannon there salute and a bottle of champagne at the gate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. JON JACKSON, SPIRIT AIRLINES PILOT: Very overwhelming. I can't thank you all enough. And, you know, the spirit was down. This is kind of a sad day. And you guys made it incredible. So, thank you so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Nice to see that.

All right, this morning, the Spirit Airlines fiasco having no impact on one traveler. Omar Nok is trying to make it all the way around the world without flying at all. He left Cairo in October. He's made his way all the way to Honduras so far using boats, trains, camels, all kinds of stuff.

And joining us now from Honduras is Omar Nok.

Omar, nice to see you this morning. Trying to get all the way around the world. You know it's easier if you do take a plane from every -- every time to time. So, why you doing it?

OMAR NOK, EGYPTIAN TRAVELER: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Definitely not a fear against flying or anything. But for me, it's -- I discovered this way allows you to see more of the world, which is why I travel in the first place. It's not about going from point a to point b specifically, but more about seeing as much as possible in between. And slow travel, I guess, and not using a plane don't let me skip anything in between. And that's what I love most about this journey so far.

BOLDUAN: Yes, from what I was seeing, you started this in October of 2025, leaving Cairo. It -- what's been the biggest travel challenge so far in avoiding any sort of flying?

NOK: So far would be the Atlantic Ocean, which was the first time I would cross an ocean or such a big water crossing without flying. I've done no fly kind of mini trips before and crossing an ocean is definitely a first, which I -- and then I had to hitchhike on a sailboat, basically. It's not the thumbs up sort of deal where you stand on the side of the road with your thumbs up, but more just being at the marina every day with a sign up, just, crew available. I want to, you know, trying to connect with sailors, asking in the bar they go to, asking the bar owner, anyone crossing that, you know, use an extra pair of helping hands on the -- on board. Not easy definitely to convince a sailor that -- to be in such close space with a stranger, no, for like two, three weeks crossing an ocean. But it took me three weeks. But, yes, it was definitely the biggest challenge so far.

BERMAN: Yes, talking to sailors in a bar, always a good move. Nothing bad can happen there, Omar.

Listen, do you have a favorite and least favorite means of transportation so far?

NOK: Favorite? I would say maybe train and hitchhiking. Hitchhiking, especially because it's kind of like a -- it's like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're going to get. You never know what kind of transport kind of stops. It can be a poultry truck. It can be a cement truck. A small family in a car. So, it's always like, I don't know what to expect. So, hitchhiking, I think, definitely is favorite. Least favorite, I don't have actually. It's maybe, if I'm more than a week at sea, then it becomes a bit like, OK, when are we arriving? Just the water and the air every day, from 60 degrees, it's definitely less action than what I'm used to. I'm used to moving around a lot and transporting with locals and all that. A boat is definitely sometimes to chill if it's maybe more than a week out there.

BOLDUAN: So, one of the -- I was -- there's like a document -- there's like a documentary that I've been actually really wanting to see about one of the last people who like traveled to every country around the world without jumping -- without flying. And it took -- I think it took him like something more than eight years to pull off. How long are you anticipating your circumventing the globe going to take?

NOK: What you mentioned -- who you mentioned, I actually met him in real life, Thor (ph). Shout out to Thor (ph). It took him ten years. My goal, however, is not more on country based, but more just around trying to make the full circle around the planet, starting and ending in the same place, home, basically. I'm estimating it takes between one to four years. I think one is already too few because it took me seven months so far and I'm only arriving on mainland, the continent, North America. So, I think more towards maybe two to four.

BERMAN: Are you working along the way? How are you? How are you financing this trip?

NOK: Yes. I'm working a bit online on the way, documenting my journey as well. And I have, as well, a Polarsteps where I track my travels basically so everyone can kind of see in real time.

[09:00:03]

They also support my travel. So, I have a partner with them as well.

BOLDUAN: Is there one big lesson that you've kind of taken from this entire