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More Rockets Fired From Gaza After Planned Ceasefire; Border Cities See Smaller Migrant Surge Than Expected; Interview With Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) About Migrant Crisis; Biden Draws Sharp Contrast With Trump At Howard Commencement; University Of Idaho Awards Posthumous Degrees To Slain Students; Elon Musk Reveals His Choice To Take Over As Twitter CEO; Police: TX Woman Shot & Killed By Boyfriend Over Abortion; Carlson Announces Plans To Relaunch His Show On Twitter. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 13, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST: Vote accordingly. I don't think that there was any metastasis of somebody who like tuned in, heard him say something, heard her confronted with facts, and nevertheless now goes on believing what he said just because they heard it that one night. No, I think it's more complicated than that. Put the spotlight on everybody. That's the answer to all of this.

Happy Mother's Day to all. Thank you for watching. See you.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin in the Middle East where a ceasefire between Israel and Islamic jihad was supposed to go in effect an hour ago but a CNN producer on the ground there says more rockets were fired toward Israel from Gaza after the agreed upon time. The IDF also continued blaring sirens warning of incoming fire.

For days now we have seen attacks like that one right there in that dramatic video. This is an Israeli airstrike on Gaza where at least 33 people have reportedly been killed over the past few days since Wednesday. Palestinian forces have fired over 1200 rockets toward Israel in response.

And CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now from Jerusalem.

Ben, what more do we know about the ceasefire?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the ceasefire, Jim, was supposed to go into effect at 10:00 p.m. local time. That was an hour ago, but until about half past the hour, there were still rockets going out of Gaza and Israeli airstrikes going in. Since then, however, it appears that the ceasefire has taken hold. The situation has calmed down.

In the streets of Gaza there are now cars going around honking their horns, ambulances with their sirens on. People in the street celebrating the end of this current round, this last round of strike and counterstrike between Islamic jihad and Israel.

Now, we understand that the ceasefire basically has three basic points, ceasing the fire, that seems to have gone into effect, stop the targeting of civilians and stop the targeting of civilian homes. And we've just got in a statement from the head of the Israeli National Security Council who said that as far as Israel is concerned, quiet will be met with quiet. This is oftentimes the formula that ends these rounds of strike encounters so it seems to be holding at the moment.

Now, this is really in line of what we've seen, basically over the last three years, it has happened every year, this sort of round of violence, and it has come to an end, but there's no question that there will be another round, perhaps a few months, perhaps a year from now, but a pattern has been established and until there is a lasting peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis, I think we can expect more to come, unfortunately, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Ben Wedeman, we know you'll be staying up late watching all of this. Thanks so much for all that. We appreciate it.

Now to Ukraine. Germany is providing Ukrainian forces a new weapons package worth nearly $3 billion. It's said to be Berlin's biggest commitment to Kyiv since Russia invaded, and includes tanks, air defense systems and surveillance drones.

This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Rome for meetings with Italy's president, prime minister and Pope Francis. Without mentioning Russia, the Vatican says Zelenskyy and the Pope discussed the humanitarian and political situation in Ukraine.

On the ground in Ukraine, Russian state media says an explosion tore through the occupied city of Luhansk, a hub for Russia's military operations. This follows two missile strikes on that eastern city yesterday that reportedly injured six children.

We'll stay on top of that, more on Ukraine coming up in the program.

Now to the U.S.-Mexico border and images that will surprise many at this hour. Some border communities say they have yet to see the massive surge in migrants that many were expecting. That's despite the end of Title 42, the pandemic era policy that allowed for the quick expulsion of migrants at the border. The long lines of people waiting to enter the U.S. have tapered off dramatically.

The Biden administration is vowing tougher consequences for migrants who try to enter the country illegally. U.S. officials fear the situation could still become a crisis with tens of thousands reportedly waiting in northern Mexico to cross into the U.S.

Let's go to El Paso, Texas, and CNN's Polo Sandoval.

Polo, what are you seeing there? Is it true what we're hearing from what you can see from your vantage point that there's just not that surge that so many folks were predicting?

[16:05:08]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jim, you used the word massive. That's exactly what authorities had initially expected ahead of the expiration of Title 42 but instead a less chaotic situation than we've seen on the ground here for the last 48 hours. One official at a facility here that's offering shelter to some of these asylum seekers after they're released from federal custody or at least after being processed, using the word manageable to describe the situation here.

But of course as you also point out a little while ago, there are a lot of different factors here. There are still many people on the Mexican side of the border, still weighing all of their options so if they choose to come across and that does have potential to increase their numbers as federal officials fear, but then there's also the other factor, the rate of release as federal authorities are deciding what happens to those close to 23,000 people still in CBP custody.

Are they deported back south of the border or are they released and allowed to continue on their way? So that really goes to the point of this is certainly not over yet, in fact, far from it. The other concern is certainly for some of the American cities across the country here, cities that have been seeing an influx of asylum seekers after they're released from federal custody, allowed to settle into some of those communities and wait out their asylum process.

The question, though, as you and I have discussed at length here for the city of New York, what happens to well over -- to 16,000 asylum seekers that have been processed through the homeless shelter system in the last year. Many of these people still lack the ability to work legally, so there's still many factors at play here but in terms of the now, I can tell you that at least here in El Paso not only federal officials but also those that are providing shelter for some of these asylum seekers temporary shelter saying that the number is manageable.

But the projections coming from senior CBP officials is that instead of about 9,000 encounters that number could go up to 4,000 in the days or weeks ahead. We'll have to see if we reach that point.

ACOSTA: All right. We'll have to see what happens in the hours ahead. Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

My next guest is a member of Congress representing a long stretch of the Texas border with Mexico. Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales joins us now.

Congressman, thanks so much for coming on this afternoon. We appreciate it. Let me get right to what Polo Sandoval was just reporting a few moments ago. At this point we just don't seem to be seeing this massive surge that many were expecting. Why is that?

REP. TONY GONZALES (R-TX): I disagree. I represent 60 percent of El Paso County, 42 percent of the southern border. What I am seeing is folks that are in detention are beyond capacity and I've shared videos and other things. So I like that. What is happening on the ground, though, folks are very anxious, people along the border are very anxious, and American citizens are getting roped up in this.

I'll give you an example. I was in El Paso yesterday and I visited the Pasa del Norte Bridge. This is a bridge that about two months ago about a thousand Venezuelans rushed and they had to close that bridge. But one of the things that's happening is Customs and Border Protection is getting prepared for this, if there's another type of rush.

What I'm also hearing is the cartels who are the ones that are controlling these routes are trying to figure out what the next step is, so it's kind of this cat and mouse game, if you will that's happening. Meanwhile, more and more people are getting built up on the Mexican side of the border. I urge the Biden administration to work with myself and others to come up with a tangible solution on how we get out of this crisis.

ACOSTA: Well, just to follow up on that first question, I mean, the administration, local officials, folks who were there to take care of migrants as they come across, they're not seeing the numbers that were anticipated at this point. Of course, that could change in the hours and days and weeks ahead.

Do you acknowledge that or do you think the numbers are wrong, or what do you make of that initial assessment that the numbers are just not what were anticipated?

GONZALES: So, I represent four of the nine Border Patrol sections, so in the El Paso -- I'll talk about El Paso sector. There's over 6,000 migrants that are in custody right now. And in some cases that's 300 percent above the capacity, so the numbers don't speak for themselves and once again there'll be videos and images to highlight what is happening almost behind closed doors, if you will.

Now there is -- I do acknowledge that the cartels have stopped letting people come over. But what is happening is that is building up as they figure out what's the next route. This goes away when the administration works with Congress on two things, one, these repatriation flights, getting people back to their country of origin, and two, surging immigration judges to the border.

This is America. People need to get their cases heard in days, not years, and then long term I'd like to have the administration acknowledge, you know, working with Congress to have an immigration reform system. I'm committed to doing that, but I'll tell you, Jim, it's very difficult to find partners that want to get out of this crisis, if you will.

ACOSTA: And why is that? It's just too easy to play politics with it?

[16:10:04]

GONZALES: It is. I mean for many people it is so foreign, El Paso and the border is so foreign. For someone like myself, Henry Cuellar, Veronica Escobar, all representatives that represent the border, we live it. And it isn't a political football. It is in our best interest to solve it. What I'm also seeing, though, too, is this crisis doesn't just end at the border. You're seeing what's happening in New York, in Chicago, Denver, other places.

So I think now is an opportunity where we can sit down as adults, come together and have real tangible solutions. Enough with the finger pointing. It doesn't matter how we got here, how do we solve this?

The reality is nine out of 10 people that are seeking asylum aren't going to qualify for asylum, so you're going to have a generation of people that are going to have to live in the shadows and in large cases, the Biden administration is making it harder for immigration reform. So I'd love to sit down and build that conversation out as we get forward but it has been difficult.

ACOSTA: Well, what would you like to do to tackle that problem? Is it time to invite congressional leaders from both parties, the president, vice president down to the border? Get everybody down to the border and try to solve this?

GONZALES: You're exactly right. Jim, I've actually hosted over 100 members of Congress at the border. Now most of them have been Republicans. I've only hosted a handful of Democrats but I think you're on to something. I think the next step is how do we in a bipartisan manner visit it and, look, we just had -- just earlier this week there was a migrant child that died in HHS custody. This is only the second time in the history of our country where we had someone die in custody.

We all should be outraged with this. Once again not about the finger- pointing but just how do we protect people regardless of their legal status. So I'm committed to doing that. I'm also working on legislation. I think work visas makes a lot of sense and you'll see kind of me build a coalition, if you will, of folks that want to tackle that. But I need the White House's help. I'd love to sit down and have a conversation.

Once again, less of the finger-pointing, more of how do we get America back on track and out of this crisis situation.

ACOSTA: And I've seen you say that you don't want to see migrants shipped to other parts of the country, but as you know, your own Republican governor has done just that. Are you calling -- I mean, to get to this bipartisan spirit that you say you'd like to see, are you calling on folks like the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, other Republican leaders to stop busing migrants to cities and states across the country?

GONZALES: What I'm seeing is at the local and the state level, communities are just so overwhelmed, they're trying to get the folks out of their city. And they don't -- honestly they don't care where they go. Of course, people have sprinkled politics in there and they've sent them to Martha's Vineyard and the vice president's front door and other places, but I mean, look at the city of El Paso.

The mayor of El Paso is getting them out as fast as he can. I'd like for us to get away from that. I mean, you know, these people that are coming over, they shouldn't be political pawns, if you will, but they need to get their day in court and if they do not qualify for asylum because many of them don't, they're here for economic purposes, they're not seeking asylum. I also think, what about the people that are fleeing political and religious persecution?

Those folks that do have legal claims are getting roped up in this as well. So you have to separate the politics from the policy. I'm committed to doing that. I think now is an opportunity for us to get it done.

ACOSTA: And White House congressional staffers are working throughout the weekend to find some common ground in the debt ceiling talks. Despite these ongoing negotiations, the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted this, quote, "President Biden doesn't want a deal. He wants a default." Do you think that's true? I mean, why would he want a default?

GONZALES: I think in politics everyone, you know, these career politicians they blame everybody but themselves. It's never their fault for whatever the crisis is of the day. We have enough of that. We need to get away -- we need real leadership and I say we need real leadership in the House, we need real leadership in the Senate. We need real leadership in the White House. The debt ceiling is not something you play with and it seems like everybody -- it's like that meme, the Spider-man meme where everyone is pointing at everyone else but themselves.

I think it's time America goes, get in a room and let's figure it out so that way our economic system doesn't collapse. Same thing with immigration, same thing with national security. I mean, I think America is ripe for real leadership. Enough with the politics.

ACOSTA: All right, Congressman Tony Gonzales, thanks very much. We appreciate it.

GONZALES: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, coming up, the four University of Idaho students stabbed to death last year are being honored by their school this graduation season. Plus, Elon Musk has a new CEO for Twitter but how will she handle the myriad of challenges facing the company.

And speaking of Twitter, Tucker Carlson is said to take his far-right views to that platform after being fired from FOX News. But do other users want him on this site?

[16:15:01]

Might be too bad, might be too late for that. It's coming up. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: It's graduation season in America and today President Biden delivered the commencement speech at Howard University here in Washington. Howard is the alma mater of Vice President Kamala Harris and one of America's top historically black colleges, and CNN's Arlette Saenz has more on today's address over at the White House. Of course, Arlette, without naming the former president, President

Biden drew some sharp contrast between himself and Donald Trump in his remarks over at Howard. What can you tell us?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, President Biden was delivering a commencement address but it had many signs and symbols of a campaign speech. The president saying that people needed to continue what he has been waging the battle of the soul of the nation.

Now, President Biden did not name former President Trump, his predecessor, by name, but throughout the speech he referenced various points and symbols from the former president's time in office saying that -- talking about people who have pitted Americans against one another, talking about those who have tried to cling to power.

[16:20:11]

He also made reference to those clashes down in Charlottesville, and when the former president referred to there being good people on both sides. President Biden warns the audience assembled at that graduation ceremony, a mostly black audience, that there were still sinister forces at play in the country. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fearless progress toward justice often meets ferocious pushback from the oldest and most sinister of forces. That's because hate never goes away. It only hides under the rocks. And when it's given oxygen, it comes out from under that rock. That's why we know this truth as well, silence is complicity. It cannot remain silent. We have to live through this battle for the soul of the nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the venue where he delivered this commencement address of course is noteworthy. Howard is a historically black university and black voters made up a key constituency for Biden back in the 2011 election and he will need those same voters if he wants be re-elected in 2024.

ACOSTA: And Arlette, in addition to the commencement address over at Howard, we heard from the president this morning on Twitter about the ongoing stalemate over the debt ceiling. He said this. "Default would erase millions of jobs, trigger a recession, hit retirement accounts and increase borrowing costs. It's not an option." What else is he saying about it?

SAENZ: Yes. President Biden told reporters as he was traveling to Delaware today that talks on the staff level have been moving along but he is still unclear how exactly they will resolve this debt ceiling fight. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Mr. President --

BIDEN: No, we'll know more in the next two days. Is that what you asked?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. How are (INAUDIBLE).

BIDEN: Well, I think they're moving along. It's hard to tell. We have not reached the crunch point yet but there's real discussion about some changes. But we're not there yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the president was supposed to meet with congressional leaders yesterday. But they decided to postpone that meeting until early next week to allow those staff level talks to continue.

The White House has yet to set a date for that but people are facing a real time crunch, especially as that so-called X date of June 1st for a potential date of default is quickly approaching.

ACOSTA: All right, Arlette Saenz over at the White House, thanks so much.

At the University of Idaho today somber moments punctuating the usually joyous celebrations of graduation. The four young victims of a brutal stabbing attack last November were honored during commencement ceremonies.

And CNN's Gary Tuchman joins us from Moscow, Idaho.

Gary, I can't imagine how emotional this was, not just for fellow students but for the families of the victims. What a very sad time it must be for that campus. What can you tell us?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, it's a cascade of emotions. You know, it's been exactly six months to the day that these four students were brutally murdered in their off-campus housing here at the University of Idaho. And today, six months later, half a year later, the commencement is taking place. It starts in about 40 minutes, the afternoon commencement, but there was also a morning commencement.

And what has happened is a wonderful thing. This university is really taking good care of these families. What they've decided to do, and it's the right thing to do, is they are honoring these slain students by awarding the Bachelor's degrees and the certificates for the four students who were killed.

This morning, Maddie Mogen, she would have been 22 years old a week from Thursday, she was in the business school. She would have been here today graduating. She received her Bachelor's degree cum laude in marketing. Her mother Karen, her father Ben, and her mother's husband accepted her diploma.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TORREY LAWRENCE, PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO: President Green, Madison May Mogen has been recommended by the faculty for the College of Business and Economics to receive a Posthumous Bachelor's Degree.

C. SCOTT GREEN, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO: By the virtue of the authority vested in me by the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho, I hereby confer upon Madison May Mogen posthumous degree earned in testimony where of her family will receive the diploma of the University of Idaho.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:25:10]

TUCHMAN: Madison's parents and grandparents proud. They are wonderful, loving people. And the ceremony that's about to start, Kaylee Goncalves is going to get her bachelor's degree in general studies. Her family will accept it on her behalf. And then the two others killed who were killed, they weren't seniors, they were underclassmen, so they weren't going to graduate today but they are receiving certificates to signify their progress towards their bachelor's degrees. And that's Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin who will get their certificates.

I can tell you that Bryan Kohberger, who's accused of murdering all four of these young people, he remains in jail. His preliminary hearing will be the end of next month but this is not the day to talk about him. This is the day to talk about these four students who should have been able to be here in person today -- Jim.

ACOSTA: They really should have been, Gary. And it's such a beautiful scene there to see those folks getting up there on stage. It must have been so difficult for them. But also just an amazing moment as well to honor their children and their achievements there at the University of Idaho.

Gary Tuchman, thanks very much for that. We really appreciate it.

Coming up, there is a new CEO of Twitter. Can she right the ship? We'll talk about that next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:39]

ACOSTA: A massive change is coming to Twitter. Seven months after buying the company and taking over as CEO, Elon Musk is revealing his new choice to lead Twitter. He's handing the reins to a longtime media executive.

And with the changes Musk has made during a short but controversial tenure at the top, she already has her work cut out for her.

Now Brian Todd has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the moment he took over with a stunt where he carried an actual sink into the building --

ELON MUSK, CEO, TWITTER: That's OK.

TODD: -- Elon Musk's tenure of little more than half a year as Twitter's leader could be fairly characterized as chaotic and gutting.

The flamboyant eccentric billionaire now stepping aside as CEO of the platform and naming Linda Yaccarino to take his place. Yaccarino comes from NBC Universal where she was chief of global advertising.

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I think, in hiring Linda, Elon Musk is, for the first time since he took over Twitter, is conceding a major role. And he's doing that because he knows that the future of Twitter depends on it. That I think will empower Linda to make a lot of strategic changes.

TODD: One of the biggest crises at Twitter, among many during his stewardship, has been the exodus of advertisers.

According to a marketing firm, 625 of the top 1,000 Twitter advertisers had pulled their ad dollars from Twitter as of late January, brands like Coca-Cola, Jeep, Wells Fargo and Merck. Revenue plummeted.

Analysts say that's where Yaccarino can turn things around.

FISCHER: Linda Yaccarino is considered one of the foremost leaders in advertising in the entire industry, both media and technology.

There's now going to be a person at Twitter who will actually speak to these companies in a way that they like to be spoken to.

TODD: Advisers had been concerned about the massive staff cuts at Twitter under Musk. They'd worry about his reinstatement of users who had previously banned.

And the rise of hate speech on Twitter as reported in recent months by groups like the ADL and the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

IMRAN AHMED, CEO, CENTER FOR COUNTERING DIGITAL HATE: When Mr. Musk took over Twitter, he sent out the bat signal to allow homophobes, transphobes, all kinds of bigots to flood back onto that platform. And the result could be an increase in the amount of hate speech on that platform.

TODD: Musk also eliminated the verification system at Twitter, which caused pandemonium. Someone was recently able to impersonate New York City's official Twitter account. He alienated mainstream media outlets.

TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: Hey, it's Tucker Carlson. TODD: And now, former FOX News host and right-wing agitator, Tucker

Carlson, claims he'll soon launch a new show on Twitter although Musk hasn't confirmed that.

How might Linda Yaccarino handle Carlson?

FISCHER: So let's say Tucker Carlson does launch a show on Twitter. It's people like Linda who will make sure the Olympics is streamed, that red carpet events and sporting events are also streamed on the platform, which can hopefully balance it out.

TODD: So Elon Musk steps aside but he's not gone-gone. He says he's taking on a new position at Twitter as executive chair and chief technology officer overseeing product, software and systems operations.

Analysts say that could be worrisome to advertisers who will be watching to see if he holds Linda Yaccarino back from making some critical changes.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: All right, so what are the priorities for the new Twitter CEO? I want to talk about that with Kara Swisher, contributor opinion writer for "The New York times" and host of "The Pivot" with Kara Swisher podcast.

Kara, can Linda Yaccarino get Twitter back on track?

KARA SWISHER, CONTRIBUTOR OPINION WRITER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" & HOST, "THE PIVOT" PODCAST: Yes. I don't know. If Elon gives her power to, I guess. It was already a weak company when he bought it and he's made it much weaker. So she's got a lot to do. And with him sort of mucking up the gears, I'm not so sure.

She is an excellent ad salesperson and leader in that area. And she certainly knows her stuff and is well liked by the industry. It's just a question of whether she gets to do what she wants, which she's long wanted to be CEO, or if he continues to meddle, which I can't imagine he won't.

ACOSTA: And is she the right person for the job? I think I saw you were tweeting -- kind of predicting this, right?

SWISHER: I did. I didn't predict it. I knew she was going to be picked. But that's OK.

ACOSTA: You knew, OK. We won't get into that. But why is she the best person for this?

SWISHER: When I say I guessed, my guess, I know, I don't guess. I don't guess that much.

Why? I don't know. She is a very strong sales ad person. She brings - possibly brings back advertisers. But what's got to bring advertisers is a safe environment for them to advertise in. Otherwise, it'll be sort of low-rent kind of advertisers.

[16:35:08]

And so if you're Coke, you don't want to be next to a white supremacist, I would imagine.

And you have to make the platform safe and there can't be porn pictures, there can't be MAGA people attacking you if they don't like, you know, who you pick for your spokesperson.

You've got to be in a safe environment. That's for all advertisers. If it works for them, they will be on the platform. If it doesn't, they will not be on the platform.

ACOSTA: Let me ask this. I mean, as we know, Elon Musk is a big critic of the mainstream media but has chosen a mainstream media executive to lead the company.

SWISHER: Yes.

ACOSTA: And that did not exactly shower him with praise from some on the right on Twitter.

SWISHER: No.

Yes, well, because the competent media executives are in the mainstream media. That's why. He has to hire from there. The ones on the right have made a mess of it, except for FOX, I guess. He got fired from FOX. But I don't know if anyone is available from there.

So he really does need a powerhouse who is well liked in the ad industry, if he wants ads to be the business model.

He's tried to do the blue check thing for $8. That hasn't worked. He's talked about doing payments. He hasn't started those. He's talked about video and content. None of those have materialized.

So he has to get revenue in the door and advertising is the easiest way to do it. And she is a very strong candidate in that regard.

And again, you don't -- if you're a big brand, this -- Twitter was never good for advertisers and now it has to be better than never very good and it's much worse. And that's the problem she faces.

And then she has to deal with Elon whenever he decides to do something Elon-ish.

ACOSTA: Right. Which he will.

And speaking of that, I mean, he does not hesitate to lash out at people on Twitter --

SWISHER: Yes.

ACOSTA: -- especially when they criticize him and his work.

And he went off a blogger who criticized Twitter's decision about this Turkish government demand that it censure some opponents ahead of tomorrow's election, aery critical election. Erdogan might be defeated. I mean, there's a lot riding on all of this.

What is going on there?

SWISHER: Well, Mr. Free Speech isn't so free speech when it comes to countries in which he has other business interests. That's pretty much the story.

And I think that was Maddie Glasias who was making a pertinent point that he did this.

And Elon said, well, would you rather us throttle the entire thing except for a couple of things?

And of course, if you're a free speech advocate, yes, you would want to throttle the entire thing. Because you can't let an authoritarian government push you around like that but he has. So he has business interests there. So I don't know what to say.

(CROSSTALK)

SWISHER: He'll do what he wants. This is the kind of thing Linda will have to deal with, like, you know what I mean? And it's a much more difficult situation given Twitter's -- even though it is a small company, given it's so big, and such a big footprint in politics and media.

ACOSTA: Yes, I think words she does not want to hear, Elon Musk on line one.

But let me ask you this because --

(CROSSTALK)

SWISHER: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

SWISHER: She should shadow ban him. But go ahead.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: I was going to ask you, I mean, the other place where this is very important is on Wall Street. Is it not? Because they are just desperate to get him out of Twitter, off of Twitter, and running places like Tesla.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Might we see more of that and might that settle some of those jitters over there? SWISHER: One would hope. Twitter -- Tesla faces a lot of challenges

from competitors, et cetera. Very good company. SpaceX is doing very well. It should require his attention. These are good companies he built.

Twitter, media -- as I said recently, media Elon is not quite good at what he does. And the others he's better at. So he should move over there and stop tweeting and get his mitts out of a media company. He's bad at media. He just bad at it.

ACOSTA: I know, because you wrote that --

(CROSSTALK)

SWISHER: -- if he wants to save -- go ahead.

ACOSTA: I know you wrote that piece about him over at "Time" magazine where you talked about the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quality of Mr. Musk.

SWISHER: Yes.

ACOSTA: Might this be good for Elon Musk?

SWISHER: If he can stop tweeting and stop bothering Linda, Linda is a very -- I know Linda very well. She is a very competent executive and really good.

And this is her chance to be CEO. She was not. She's been a top executive but not at the top. And if he gets out of her way, she can probably do a great job.

But he has all the important parts of Twitter under his purview so that's another issue.

ACOSTA: And this idea about Tucker Carlson coming over and starting a show on Twitter, where do you think that leads?

SWISHER: Yes. Well, I also guessed about that but I was pretty sure. I don't know, maybe a subscription business. He could do a lot of things there.

He has nowhere else to go. He can't go to Newsmax. He could but it's kind of a step down.

So you know, to create his own media company and Twitter would be the logical place, which is why I guessed it. It's a logical place for him to go. He could do all kinds of stuff and Elon would help him presumably do so.

And he needs to attract content creators to that platform. And Tucker is a big fish. And so probably that's why both of them, it's in their self-interest.

[16:40:04] Now the question is, can he build a media business there? We'll see. He certainly has shown -- he was the biggest draw on FOX. And so maybe he can, maybe he can't. We'll see.

ACOSTA: All right. Kara Swisher, great to talk to you as always. Thanks so much.

SWISHER: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Appreciate it.

SWISHER: All right.

ACOSTA: All right. Still ahead, in the meantime, a Texas woman is dead. This man, her boyfriend, is accused of killing her after police say she traveled to another state to get an abortion. Details on this very disturbing case, next.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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ACOSTA: Police in Dallas are investigating a brutal killing where a man is accused of shooting his girlfriend after she reportedly traveled to another state to get an abortion.

CNN's Isabel Rosales joins us now.

What more can you tell us about this case? It's very disturbing.

[16:44:57]

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Incredibly disturbing, Jim. We're poring through court documents, and what they are detailing here is a history of violence.

Before her murder, Gabriella Gonzalez, she apparently told police that Thompson, Harold Thompson, beat her up multiple times.

And, in fact, during the shooting, there was an active warrant against Thompson for family violent strangulation. This is due to a March incident where he told police then that Gonzalez was, in fact, pregnant with his child.

Now, on Wednesday, Dallas police, they rushed to the scene of a parking lot, a gas station after receiving a 911 call of a shooting. And there on the ground, they found 26-year-old Gonzalez dead.

They then looked through surveillance video and that is when they saw Thompson and Gonzalez walking together. And at one point, Thompson attempted to put Gonzalez into a chokehold. She shrugged it off.

And in the surveillance video, police detail seeing him pull out a gun and shooting Gonzalez in the head. And when she fell to the ground, he then continued to shoot.

The witnesses heard that shooting, including Gonzalez's own sister. Extremely disturbing there.

Now, I want to show what a piece of the arrest warrant had to say, including, quote, "Further investigation revealed that Gonzalez went to Colorado to get an abortion and returned the night before," before the shooting.

It is believed that the suspect was the father of the child. The suspect did not want the complainant to get an abortion.

Now, Texas is arguably one of the most aggressive abortion restrictions in the nation. Meanwhile, Colorado, one of the most permissive states when it comes to abortion access.

In this case, Thompson has refused to give a statement to police. A judge has denied him bond for two offenses, including murder and assault of a familial and household member. He will be appointed a public defender -- Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Isabel Rosales, thank you very much for that.

In other news, recovery efforts are under way in Texas after a deadly tornado hit a small town near the southern border. This video shows the twister's aftermath in Laguna Heights.

Nearly 100-mile-per-hour winds hurled chunks of twisted metal and scattered debris for miles earlier this morning. At least one person is dead and nearly a dozen more are hurt.

We'll stay on top of that. And any new video that comes in, we'll bring it to you.

Up next, Tucker Carlson is planning on taking his extremist views to Twitter by launching his show there. Do Twitter users really want that? We'll break it down the numbers next, live here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[16:52:08]

ACOSTA: Former FOX News host, Tucker Carlson, has found a new home for his extremist views.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Starting soon, I'll be bringing a new version of the show we've been doing for six and a half years to Twitter. We'll bring some other things, too, which we'll tell you about.

But for now, we're just grateful to be here. Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others. See you soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Tucker's move is in line with recent moves by Twitter where Elon Musk has helped elevate the visibility of far-right figures in what he calls an effort to promote free speech.

And CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten, joins us now to run the numbers.

Harry, what do you think? Is Tucker going to find an audience that he wants on Twitter? We were talking to Kara Swisher a little while ago and she was noting that Twitter's kind of limping along these days.

But what are you finding out?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Look, I would say Elon Musk has transformed Twitter. For the better or worse is up to who's viewing it, right? But there's been a major transformation in who is on Twitter, politically speaking.

Look at the percentage of Twitter users versus Republicans versus Democrats now versus two years ago. The share of Twitter users who are Democrats, they still outnumber Republicans. But the margin is now 12 points. You go back two years ago, it was 2-1, 63 percent Democrats, 33 percent Republicans.

The fact is, since Musk took over Twitter, a lot more Republicans are making up an increasing share of Twitter users. And I think that's part of the reason why Tucker Carlson went over there is I think the audience on Twitter is more receptive to messages like that he will perhaps be giving out.

ACOSTA: And people have strong opinions about whether Twitter is good for democracy. Interesting numbers there. What can you tell us?

ENTEN: Yes, this is just another one of those same sorts of lines. If you look among Twitter users and ask them, OK, is Twitter mostly good for democracy? In 2021, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to say that it was.

Look at that, 47 percent of Democrats said it was mostly good versus 17 percent of Republicans. Look forward to 2023, look at that, the inverse. Now it's Republicans who are far more likely to say Twitter is mostly good for democracy, 43 percent to 24 percent.

I think that's part of the reason why. Why we saw Twitter is becoming more Republican, it's because Republicans feel like Twitter's a place where their viewpoints can get heard and it's a place where they can share their ideas.

ACOSTA: And it will be interesting to see if those numbers move with the post that's been announced that Linda Yaccarino is going to be leading Twitter. A little controversial there on the right.

But, Harry, just how many people have been getting their news from Twitter compared to TV? I think about our parents' generation. Not as many of those folks are on Twitter. But what do the numbers tell us?

[16:54:58]

ENTEN: Yes. You know, when we think about social media, there's Facebook, which tends to be something that a lot of older folks are on.

If you're on something like Twitter, right, and compared it to, say, television, which is where Tucker Carlson was, take a look here, getting their news often from television versus someone who uses Twitter and gets news from social media.

Look at that, 31 percent of Americans often get news from television versus just about 8 percent who use Twitter and often get their news from social media.

So the fact is Tucker's going to go to a smaller population when he moves over to Twitter.

ACOSTA: Let's talk about something we can agree on. Mom. Moms are great. Public service announcement for all of our viewers. Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Don't forget to call your mother, take her to lunch. Got this on the agenda myself.

What does the polling show us about what gift we should get our mothers?

ENTEN: Yes, this is a fascinating split between men and women. Men believe the best gift for Mother's Day is, in fact, flowers or plants, 28 percent.

But in fact, women believe a family visit or the call is best, at 33 percent. The fact is just call your mom. That's what she probably wants most of anything, or take her out to lunch.

ACOSTA: That's right. Call your mother. That's the message of the day.

Harry Enten, thanks so much. We'll be calling you as well. Thanks a lot.

Be sure to check out Harry's podcast, "Margins of Error." You can find it on your favorite podcast on Apple or at CNN.com/audio.

We'll be right back.

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