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U.S. Plans to Indict Former Cuban Leader Raul Castro; U.S.- Israel War with Iran; U.S.-China Summit; SCOTUS Tosses Appeal to Reinstate Virginia Map; Iran Turns Bombed Karaj Bridge into a Symbol of Resistance; U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer Faces Party Discontent; Data Centers Debate; Eurovision Controversy. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired May 16, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you here in the U.S., Canada and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade coming to you live from Atlanta and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
The Trump administration threatening legal action against Cuba's former leader, how the move could change the situation on the ground in Cuba.
And the Iranian-U.S. negotiations could be heading back to the drawing board. We'll have a live report from the region on what lies ahead.
Plus, Trump and Xi Jinping spent hours discussing trade and peace negotiations during their summit. What we know and the latest response from Taiwan just ahead.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: The U.S. is turning up the pressure on Cuba by preparing to indict Raul Castro, the Communist country's former president. That's according to sources. It comes just days after the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, met with top intelligence officials from the ministry of interior in Havana.
The 94-year-old Raul Castro is the brother of the late Fidel Castro, who, of course, led the Cuban revolution in the 1950s. He may face various charges, including over Cuba's shootdown of two planes in 1996, in which four people died, including three Americans. A Cuban American exile organization owned those planes.
President Trump on FOX News indicated that Cuba may want to make a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Is Cuba going to turn to us and make a deal?
TRUMP: I think so. I mean, look, I've been hearing about Cuba since I'm a little boy.
They've been saying, what's going on with Cuba?
And I think we'll be turning it. Marco has been very effective and the whole group has been very effective. It's, yes, I think they're going to have to come to us. It's a failed nation. It's a totally failed nation.
BAIER: And they're taking the aid now.
TRUMP: They've been taking the aid. They want aid. They need help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: CNN's Evan Perez has more on the potential indictment of Raul Castro
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EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The Justice Department is working to secure criminal charges against former Cuban president Raul Castro. The exact nature of the charges are unclear but, if approved by a grand jury, they could come as soon as next week.
Cuba celebrates its Independence Day on May 20th. Federal prosecutors have examined a number of possible charges, including some related to the Cuban military's 1996 downing of two planes belonging to the Cuban American exile organization Brothers to the Rescue. Four men, three of them American citizens, were killed in that attack.
Cuban American Republican lawmakers have pushed the Justice Department to bring charges.
In a February letter to then-attorney general Pam Bondi, lawmakers, including representative Mario Diaz-Balart, urged the Justice Department to prosecute Castro, citing evidence.
Including reports that there was a, from that era, that there was a recording of radio traffic that included the Cuban MiG pilots that shot down those planes, indicating that Castro, then the defense minister, ordered the shootdown of the planes in international airspace.
Now the potential U.S. criminal charges come amid rising tensions between Cuba and the United States. CIA director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba on Thursday to meet with government officials as the government, as the Trump administration has been tightening sanctions that have worsened Cuba's severe economic crisis.
Including fuel shortages and near daily power outages. The Justice Department declined to comment for this story -- Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Earlier, CNN spoke to CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsas about the recent ongoing pressure campaign by the U.S. on Cuba. Here's some of what he had to say.
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ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The president, from what I'm told from a number of sources, had really been aggravated, the fact that this hadn't collapsed yet.
And so CIA Director Ratcliffe went in basically with a mandate to tell the Cubans that they either need to get on board within a certain timeline or action would be taken.
And then on the back end of his trip, what was interesting is what leaked out is that there, as you were mentioning earlier, that there's a potential indictment that's being sought for Raul Castro.
Why that's important for folks who are listening at home, when the Department of Defense executed the operation to go get Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela -- you have to execute military operations under some sort of legal authority, under U.S. code or international treaty.
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In that case, Maduro had actually been indicted for federal crimes and so the Department of Defense was supporting the Department of Justice, believe it or not, in executing a warrant to extradite Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela.
The message to the Cubans is very clear that a similar situation could arise with Raul Castro being under indictment and potentially extradite. So the message to the Cubans is clear. The pressure is on. A timeline has been delivered. Now it's going to be up to the Cubans as to whether or not they comply.
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KINKADE: Well, now to the signals the U.S. president is sending about what might lie ahead with the war in Iran. Donald Trump says Tehran's latest proposal was unacceptable. He claims Iran had agreed to give up its nuclear dust, referring to enriched uranium, but then backtracked, according to Iranian state media.
The country's foreign minister says Iranian enrichment is currently not on the agenda and will be addressed in later stages.
President Trump posted on social media that his military campaign against Iran is, quote," to be continued," suggesting he could resume attacks.
The conflict with Iran was a key topic of discussion when Mr. Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. The U.S. president says China agrees that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. For more, Leila Gharagozlou joins me from Abu Dhabi. And Leila, president Trump says he rejected the proposal because
Tehran appeared to back away from earlier discussions about surrendering its enriched uranium.
What more are you learning about the specifics of Iran's proposal and any response to Trump's suggestion of a potential escalation?
LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, Iran gave their response last Sunday to the original U.S. proposal. And in that, according to the state broadcaster, IRIB, they said that most focus of this is going to be on the Strait of Hormuz and the control of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as any reparations for damages.
And they essentially, as you said, put aside the nuclear issue. Now key for the Iranians is their nuclear issue. It's an issue of sovereignty for them. So it is and has been a red line.
Now as we saw with the JCPOA, they are willing to put curbs around it. But what the Trump administration has asked of them has, according to the Iranians, gone beyond the pale of what they're willing to offer.
Now we have to see what happens in terms of any future negotiations and if the Iranians are willing to kind of move on this. President Trump himself did say that he would be open to some 20-year deal. It's unclear if the Iranians would also be open to that.
It would mean that they would, once again, after 20 years, be able to start working on that program again. But we're not quite sure where that lies.
Now when it comes to renewed hostilities, the Iranians have been very clear over the last couple of months and over the course of this ceasefire that, should things escalate again, they are going to stand up for their nation and that they're going to fight back. They're not going to take any escalation lying down.
So it is -- we are at tenterhooks when it comes to what's going to happen next. We did see president Trump obviously have increased rhetoric toward escalation. And the Iranians have said we're going to move forward.
Now fundamentally, this is a trust issue. Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, brought this up at the BRICS summit, which was happening concurrent to president Trump being in China. And we can take a listen to what he said.
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ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We have no trust to Americans. This is a fact and this is the mind. This is the main obstacle in the way of any diplomatic effort. So the current negotiation is suffering from the lack of trust. It is also suffering from contradictory messages we receive from Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP) GHARAGOZLOU: So this is really a key issue here. And president Trump's most recent comments do play into this. The Iranians have time and time again said that the Trump administration has moved the goalposts on what they want from Iran and from a deal. And president Trump does seem to keep doing this.
And this is Iran's biggest gripe. And this goes back to when president Trump pulled out of the JCPOA. So it is a massive hurdle to try to get through, to even get to even talking about a deal. Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Leila Gharagozlou, appreciate your efforts from Abu Dhabi. Thanks so much.
Well, now to a CNN exclusive. U.S. officials suspect Iran is responsible for hacking gas tank gauges at gas stations in several states. That's according to multiple sources briefed on the matter.
They say the hackers breached systems that monitor the amount of fuel and storage tanks, allowing them, in some cases, to tinker with the display readings. Private experts and U.S. officials warn that a hack like this could make a gas leak go undetected.
CNN's cybersecurity reporter Sean Lyngaas broke the story. Here's what he said to my colleague Pamela Brown earlier.
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SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's an attempt by Iran to use its asymmetric capabilities, right?
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They can't reach the U.S. homeland with missiles or drones but their hacking capabilities are good enough to do things like this to say, we know the U.S. You have some very vulnerable critical infrastructure and here's how we can do this.
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KINKADE: We've got some news coming in to CNN right now. The Israel Defense Forces say it has begun striking Hezbollah infrastructure sites in southern Lebanon. Now this is despite the fact that we heard that announcement on Friday that a ceasefire would be extended for at least 45 more days.
The U.S. State Department had made that statement after Israel and Lebanon wrapped up two days of talks in Washington. The current truce has been in place since mid-April but was set to expire in the coming days.
Israel and Hezbollah kept on fighting despite the truce. Lebanon says at least 380 people have been killed during the ceasefire.
An Israeli security official says a strike targeting the most senior Hamas military leader in Gaza appears to have been successful. Israel says it was going after Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the head of the Hamas military wing. Israel calls him one of the architects of the October 7th, 2023, attack.
CNN has been unable to confirm whether al-Haddad was indeed killed. The director of Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital says the strike in Gaza on Friday killed at least one woman and wounded six others. The strike comes despite a ceasefire in Gaza that has been in place since October last year.
Well, now that he's returned to Washington, president Trump is boasting that his two-day summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was a great success and a tremendous success. China's foreign ministry called the Beijing summit historical, touted progress on trade and economic concerns.
But the meeting ended without any substantive agreements on key issues. Investors are voicing their frustration with a lack of specifics, with all three major U.S. stock market indices closing Friday in the red.
President Trump told reporters that Xi and he did not discuss tariffs. He said Taiwan was the most important issue for president Xi during the talks and that a pending $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan is, quote, a "very good negotiating chip."
Well, joining me now live from Beijing is CNN's Mike Valerio.
Good to have you with us, Mike. So Xi pressed strongly on Taiwan, warning of a conflict risk.
How is Taiwan responding to the comments from both the Chinese and U.S. leaders?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're trying to stabilize things. Lynda. We're hearing from the presidential office during the earlier part of our work day on this Saturday, 5 pm hour in Beijing, that the presidential office has received reassurances from the U.S. president and from Marco Rubio.
Rubio that the policy toward Taiwan remains consistent and unchanged. But the reality is we would not be talking about this if there weren't tremors in the undercurrent, the foundations of this policy with the president casting doubt on whether or not the United States would defend Taiwan in the event, God forbid, of a conflict.
So I want to get to some comments that the president made to Bret Baier of FOX News about 40 seconds long. Just listen to how he speaks about Taiwan, talking about -- he starts to describe how the United States lost its chip industry to Taiwan, repeating something he said on the campaign trail and then talking about the weapons sales.
We'll discuss on the other side. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They stole our chip. If we would have had one of our presidents just say, we're going to say, I'm going to put 100 percent chip. You can leave. You can build in Taiwan. But we're going to -- you sell it back into the United States. We're going to put 100 percent or 200 percent tariff. We would have never lost a chip.
We lost the chip industry. I'm not looking to have somebody go independent. And, you know, we're supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I'm not looking for that. I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: But you're waiting on approving billions of dollars of weapons for Taiwan.
Is that moving forward?
TRUMP: Well, I haven't approved it yet. We're going to see what happens.
BAIER: What are you looking?
TRUMP: I may do it. I may not do it
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIO: OK. So why this is in this moment at least, Lynda, a win for Beijing is because the Trump -- the attempt for Beijing to put Taiwan under its control is certainly a hallmark goal of the Chinese Communist Party as part of the -- what's called the national rejuvenation by the year 2049. That's the centenary of the Communist Party.
And a way to do that, analysts say, is to lead to the inevitability in the minds of the Taiwanese people that Beijing taking control of the island will happen, because the United States is not a reliable partner.
Again, that is what the Chinese Communist Party here in the mainland is trying to plant the seeds in the minds of people who live in Taiwan. So these comments certainly, as analysts are telling us, are adding to that train of thought.
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It's really up to the president of the United States what he's going to do next with these arms sales. Lynda.
KINKADE: We will be watching closely. Mike Valerio, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.
President Trump also says a major ISIS leader has been killed in an operation in Nigeria. He posted hours ago that U.S. and Nigerian forces had tracked down Abu Bilal al Minuki, the group's second in command.
The post says he will no longer terrorize the people of Africa or plan attacks on Americans and that his death has greatly reduced ISIS global operations. Last December, Mr. Trump ordered another strike on ISIS in Nigeria after accusing the group of persecuting Christians.
Well, still to come, a shakeup for the overseers of the U.S. economy. What the change in the leadership at the Federal Reserve could mean for everyday Americans.
And Virginia Democrats took to their redistricting efforts to the Supreme Court but it did not work. Still to come, how that redistricting case in Virginia differed with others.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
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The U.S. Supreme Court has stepped into the country's nationwide redistricting war yet again. The justices tossed out an emergency request from Virginia to reinstate its congressional map. The Democrats were hoping to pick up as many as four additional seats in the House of Representatives in this year's midterm election.
The conservative leaning court recently permitted Republicans to do that in Louisiana and Alabama but the Virginia case dealt with questions of state law rather than federal.
The Federal Reserve is changing leadership after eight years of Jerome Powell. His term as Fed chair ended Friday. During his home, the world's most powerful central bank handled numerous crises, including the COVID pandemic. Powell leaves the role as inflation rose to 3.8 percent in April, the highest since May of 2023.
Also, for the first time in three years, American wages no longer outpace inflation. CNN business senior reporter David Goldman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: All right. So it's Jerome Powell's last day at the Federal Reserve. Well, not quite. It's his last day as Fed chair. But he is staying on at the Federal Reserve as a governor throughout the rest of his term.
Now that hasn't happened in more than five decades. And the reason why he's staying on is because he wants the Federal Reserve to remain independent. There has been a criminal investigation against him for many months.
That's on pause until an inspector general can review the controversial renovation that's been going on at the Federal Reserve. And then once that's done, the Trump administration said it might resume that criminal investigation.
Until that is all done, Powell said he is staying on to ensure that the Federal Reserve remains independent. That's actually been a hallmark of his tenure but he isn't only going to be remembered for that. He also did remarkable things for the economy, including during the
2022 inflation crisis, sending rates up dramatically with three consecutive three quarter-point increases. That had never happened before.
But everyone said we were going to go into a recession because of that. But remarkably, he steered the U.S. economy away from that, keeping it out of a recession while eventually getting inflation back under control.
It's a remarkable career that has been bookended by president Trump going out on a tear on Jerome Powell, accusing him of being too late on inflation and one of the worst people for the economy. I think most economists would disagree, saying that he had a very successful term as the Federal Reserve chair. Back to you.
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KINKADE: A New York judge has declared a mistrial in the retrial of Harvey Weinstein. The jury deadlocked on the rape charge against the former Hollywood mogul on Friday. This was the third trial involving the same charge after another jury failed to decide last year and an appeals court overturned his 2020 conviction.
Prosecutors will have to decide whether to try the case a fourth time. Some jurors said outside the court that nine out of 12 of them wanted to acquit Weinstein.
All 18 passengers evacuated from the hantavirus hit cruise ship and repatriated to the U.S. are now being monitored at a quarantine unit in Nebraska. Two passengers have been taken to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta and have since been medically cleared and taken to Nebraska for continued observation.
Six passengers from Australia and New Zealand arrived at a naval base near Perth on Friday. Australian health officials say they've all tested negative for the hantavirus and will be isolated for the next three weeks in quarantine.
Still ahead, CNN goes inside Iran as U.S. president Trump ponders his next move. CNN visits the site of a major bridge damaged during deadly U.S. strikes to see how officials are responding.
Plus, we'll go live to London for details on the discontent with prime minister Keir Starmer among the Labour Party. And we'll learn about a popular potential challenger. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
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KINKADE (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Let's check some of today's top stories.
The U.S. Justice Department is planning to indict former Cuban president Raul Castro, according to sources familiar with the matter. It comes as the U.S. continues its pressure campaign on the communist government.
The 94-year-old former Cuban leader could be charged in the downing of planes owned by the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue 30 years ago.
President Trump says U.S. and Nigerian forces have killed a top ISIS commander. He says the target was the group's global second in command. The statement says his elimination has greatly diminished ISIS operations.
And U.S. president Trump also says the first sentence of Tehran's latest proposal to end the conflict between the two sides was, quote, "unacceptable."
He claims Iran had agreed to give up its nuclear material but then backtracked. Iran's foreign minister told state media that Iranian uranium enrichment is currently not on the agenda and will be addressed in later talks.
CNN's Matthew Chance and his team got rare access to the site of the Iranian bridge, which is heavily damaged in the deadly U.S. airstrikes in April. President Trump has warned he could target more bridges in Iran but for now, local officials are focused on rebuilding.
And we should note CNN operates in Iran with the permission of the government but maintains full editorial control over its reports
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rare glimpse of the tightly controlled Islamic Republic. We drove out of Tehran, the bustling but still tense capital, past anti- American slogans daubed along the route, to the town of Karaj and one painful scar left by the latest U.S.-led war.
When finished, the B1 Bridge was meant to be a symbol of Iranian engineering prowess, the tallest in the region. But for now, it's become a battered monument to ruthless American air power.
CHANCE: Wow. Well, you really get a sense of the incredible destructive force that was at play with these U.S. airstrikes.
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That smashed this concrete look and twisted all this reinforced steel. Let's take a look so we can get closer, a bit closer to the edge.
I mean, look at the concrete pylons that have been absolutely shattered. And down here, I mean, it's a huge drop of 450 feet. This was, as I mentioned, the highest bridge in the Middle East. And there were people down below who were caught up in this and killed. CHANCE (voice-over): And the Iranian official who was sent to show us
around insisted this targeting of infrastructure and the killing of innocent civilians was a war crime that should be punished. It's an allegation U.S. officials categorically deny.
CHANCE: The Americans say that this was a legitimate military target, that this bridge would have been used for the transport of drones and missiles and therefore it was fair game. How do you answer that?
DR. ALI SAFAR, IRANIAN LOCAL OFFICIAL (through translator): That's a false narrative from President Trump. This bridge hadn't even opened. Not a single car had driven over. It was built for the use of our people and was just called a military target so it could be bombarded, demolished and destroyed.
CHANCE (voice-over): Back in April, Trump posted video of the attack on his Truth Social platform, urging Iran to make a deal before it's too late.
Now after his state visit to China, there's still no deal and Trump is raising the issue again amid concerns the fragile ceasefire with Iran could soon break down.
TRUMP: We haven't knocked out other than one bridge and we did because they misbehaved but we have bridges we could knock out. We could knock out their bridges and their electrical capacity. Within two days, we could knock out the whole thing.
CHANCE (voice-over): It's a terrifying possibility but one that doesn't seem to be giving Iran much pause.
CHANCE: Why is it important for this country to rebuild the bridge now, when there's the possibility that the Americans could strike it again in the near future?
Why now?
DR. SAFAR (through translator): We're not thinking about that. Our focus is on the reconstruction of our bridge. It was designed and built by our engineers, despite many difficult years of sanctions.
CHANCE (voice-over): And amid growing tensions with the U.S., Iranian officials insist this symbol of the Islamic Republic will rise again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, the U.K. Labour Party says it will allow the mayor of Greater Manchester to run for a seat in Parliament. There's been speculation that Andy Burnham wants a shot at the party's top spot. He regularly polls as one of Labour's most popular members. Some people in London gave their thoughts on Burnham.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I don't know very much about Andy Burnham but I think it's become clear that Starmer doesn't have a vision for how to resolve the problems that we've got. He seems a very nice man. I hope he has the dignity to stand aside and let the party debate ideas, because I think it is ideas just as much as people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). Not too bad. But proving yourself in a city is a bit different to proving yourself in a country maybe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Prime minister Keir Starmer is facing widespread discontent within the Labour Party after big losses in recent local elections in England, Scotland and Wales. And there's a growing possibility he could face a leadership challenge. CNN business and economics reporter Anna Cooban joins us now live from London.
Great to have you with us again, Anna. So we've heard from dozens of MPs who are reportedly calling for a leadership change.
What would need to happen for Andy Burnham to become eligible for a Labour leadership contest?
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's been given permission by the Labour Party to run in an election, in a by-election in the north of England. Now that -- the earliest date that can happen is the 18th of June. And so already we're pushing into next month.
And then if Burnham was to win that election, he would then be a member of Parliament, which would then give him the right to formally challenge Keir Starmer to become the leader of the Labour Party and the prime minister. So we're really pushing really into the autumn, if that was to happen.
But this is not a slam dunk. You know, even though Burnham is incredibly popular in his part of the country that he oversees in Manchester, he's presiding over the fastest growing city economy in the U.K.
We do have the issue of Reform, the small issue of this hard right party that did incredibly well in the local elections last week. So Burnham would be running in this by-election against a Reform candidate.
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And that will be a very interesting litmus test to see whether or not Labour can win that seat. And then that will be a litmus test to see if they could potentially win a general election in 2029.
And there is a lot of disillusionment with the traditional two-party system in the U.K. at the moment. So we'll see if Burnham runs and eventually if he was able to win against Reform and then potentially take this Labour leadership position.
KINKADE: And how is this playing out amongst the electorate, how voters are reacting to this political uncertainty? COOBAN: Well, voters are very disillusioned. They're disillusioned with this constant revolving door of prime ministers that we've seen in the U.K. I mean, if we do get a new leader in the U.K. in the next few months, that will be the sixth prime minister in seven years.
Also, there's disillusionment with these many U-turns that the Labour Party has taken on certain policy issues. Also there is this criticism that Labour is lacking in a cohesive vision. But I will defer to one voter that CNN spoke to put that into his words.
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OWEN ROBINSON, SOCIAL WORKER: Completely exhausted by it all, to be honest. Yes, I just -- I feel my initial disposition in any given moment is that politics in this city, this country has gotten to the point where it's intentionally being made as exhausting as possible for the general public.
So they just get complete indifference to it, I guess. So they can just crack on with whatever the crazy stuff they're doing. Well, you know, everybody else kind of carries on, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOBAN: So you've heard it there. You know, people are exhausted with this. Keir Starmer's government can tout, you know, positive things that they've done. You know, they were saying yesterday that there was data showing that the U.K. is growing in the first quarter at the fastest pace compared to other G7 economies.
The National Health Service waiting list times are down. But at the end of the day, this psychodrama of leadership changes is exhausting the British public, Lynda.
KINKADE: Yes, indeed. No doubt. Anna Cooban in London. Great to have you with us. Thank you.
Well, a new survey finds most Americans do not want data centers built near them. When we return, a California candidate's plan to regulate the tech hubs.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
A majority of Americans do not want artificial intelligence data centers built near their homes. A new Gallup survey finds seven in 10 Americans would oppose one in their area. Respondents cited concerns about environmental impact, rising utility bills and higher cost of living. And that opposition crosses party lines, with majorities of both
Republicans and Democrats against the data centers. Democratic candidate for governor of California, Matt Mahan, who is also the mayor of San Jose, has released a plan aimed at regulating AI and data centers. Here's what he told CNN about the goal of his new plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT MAHAN (D-CA) GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We have to harness the good that can come from these tools to make government more responsive and productive. But we also have to shield people from the risks.
And one of those, as you point out, is ensuring that any new data centers pay to upgrade our infrastructure for everyone else, use the cleanest energy, invest in recycled water systems. We can't have the profits of this industry be built on the backs of working people or environmental destruction. We have to get this right.
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KINKADE: Well, if you're tired of online dating, a major dating app believes AI can be the wingman you need to improve your romantic game. Its creators say artificial intelligence can take some of the grunt work out of the search for someone who might sweep you off your feet. As Clare Duffy explains, there may be a few downsides.
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CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this change is coming against the backdrop of some real dating app fatigue among I think everybody. But especially Gen Z is turning away from dating apps. They're tired of swiping.
Bumble in its most recent quarter saw revenues down 14 percent year on year. And so Bumble, like many of the big dating apps, is trying to shake things up by adding AI features.
Now Bumble is piloting this AI dating assistant called Bee that, to start, will just have onboarding conversations with users trying to get more information about their dating preferences, their communication style beyond what they might put in their profile.
And Bumble will use that extra data to put better matches in people's feeds. But eventually, potentially as soon as later this year, that AI assistant could replace the swiping feature and set users up with matches directly.
It could eventually start planning or suggesting dates. And Whitney Wolfe Herd, she's the CEO of Bumble, she describes the vision this way in a recent interview.
She said, "There is a world where your dating concierge could go and date for you with other dating concierges. And then you don't have to talk to 600 people."
And I think that could sound nice to people who are in the swiping trenches right now.
But I do have a couple of questions, namely, how do you make sure that AI doesn't make it easier for people to catfish you?
How do you know that you're not going to end up on a date that your dating concierge says is going to go one way and the person is completely different?
Wolfe Herd was also asked about that piece in a recent interview. Take a listen to what she said.
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WHITNEY WOLFE HERD, CEO, BUMBLE: So things we will not do, which I think is important for people to hear in the era of AI, we will not let you falsify who you are with AI
You cannot have falsified photos with AI. You cannot use AI to, you know, message people that -- we will not be leaning into AI as a replacement to human connection. Our goal is to leverage AI to make love and connection more human.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: So Bumble saying that AI is going to make the dating process more human. We will see if that reverses the dating app slump that we are seeing right now. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: All right. Well, crisis, controversy and boycotts all threatening to overshadow the grand finale of the popular Eurovision song contest. We'll have a report next.
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Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. The grand finale of this year's Eurovision song contest gets underway in the coming hours. Contestants from 25 countries will take the stage in Vienna, Austria, for the pop music showdown. But this year's contest is unfolding under a shadow of controversy, as CNN's Isa Soares reports.
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ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: United by music and divided by controversy, the Eurovision song contest currently underway in the Austrian capital.
Vienna is traditionally a good natured and campy pop music showdown. But tensions over Israel are threatening to overshadow the annual competition. Eurovision organizers have faced mounting pressure in recent years to ban Israel over its military activities in Gaza.
There have also been accusations that the Israeli government unfairly influenced the results of the last two contests by promoting a mass voting campaign. The European Broadcasting Union never commented publicly on the allegations.
And this year, the decision to include Israel prompted five other countries, Spain, The Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland and Slovenia to withdraw from the contest in protest, making it the smallest Eurovision competition in more than two decades.
SIMON BENNETT, PRESIDENT, OGAE INTERNATIONAL: Obviously, there's been a lot of controversy over the last few years. We've got some countries who've pulled out. Some fans have kind of gone sour a little bit on the contest. Some are sitting it out to see what will happen and whether the fun will come back into it.
SOARES: Even with tensions flaring in the city, fans inside the host venue remain excited to cheer on their favorites during the grand finale. A total of 35 countries started out participating in this year's contest. That number is now whittled down to 25 competing for the grand prize.
Traditionally, viewership for Eurovision rivals that of the Super Bowl, an estimated a 166 million viewers last year.
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Compared to nearly a 128 million for the Super Bowl. Those numbers are expected to be down this year after the withdrawal of those five national broadcasters. But despite the political divisions rippling through the wider community.
Many of the fans flocking to Vienna ahead of the grand finale said the focus should be on the music and the spectacle of Eurovision, not the controversy.
MAREIDE BACH, EUROVISION FAN: It's the unity of the countries around and the music and the happy and joy it brings.
SOARES (voice-over): Isa Soares, CNN.
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KINKADE: Joe Bennett is a forensic musicologist and professor at Berklee College of Music, who's been analyzing popular music for more than 30 years.
Joe, thanks so much for being here. Looking forward to getting your insight.
JOE BENNETT, FORENSIC MUSICOLOGIST: Good to be here.
So you're in Vienna. This is Eurovision's 70th anniversary. It's a contest often associated with launching major international stars, like ABBA, Celine Dion, Olivia Newton-John. Does this year feel more like a celebration of that legacy or a moment
of reflection about where Eurovision is heading?
BENNETT: Well, I think it's probably the former but maybe I'm just caught up in the atmosphere here in Vienna all week.
You know, there are Eurovision things on the side of every bus and there's people wearing crazy hats in the street. And, of course, lots of outdoor street parties for the -- for the semifinals. So it certainly feels like an atmosphere of celebration to me.
KINKADE: And there has, of course, been some protests. This competition partly overshadowed by Israel's participation. Some key nations have dropped out.
Obviously without focusing too much on politics, I mean, this is a competition that is meant to be apolitical, right?
BENNETT: Yes. And actually that's made explicit in the Eurovision values and, in fact, even in the rules. You're not allowed to enter songs that have any political content. We do have a an anti-war song this year and you occasionally get those generic protest-type freedom songs.
But actually politics is supposed to be kept out of Eurovision is the -- is kind of the whole point of the thing.
KINKADE: And when you look at the actual music, which is what it's all about, we are seeing a lot of human theatrical, sometimes chaotic performances.
Why is that resonating right now?
Is there a backlash against some of the algorithm driven or AI influenced pop that we're now seeing?
BENNETT: Well, I think Eurovision has always been about getting your attention. And over that 70-year period you can -- and particularly maybe in the last 20-25 years, you can see the acts, at least in their theatricality, working harder and harder to create a splash in the stadium on the final, on that Saturday night.
I don't think the 70th musically is any more extreme than on a musical analysis level than any previous one that I've analyzed. In my longitudinal research study, I've looked at about 400 Eurovision songs over the last 16 years.
And although we do see certain styles recurring over and over in terms of how out there they are, you always get some crazy stuff and you always get some bland stuff.
KINKADE: Yes. And we are here for all of that. Of course, my home country of Australia is represented by Delta Goodrem. This is a singer-songwriter who grew up in my neighborhood. She's performing "Eclipse."
What's your view of her Eurovision style pop ballad?
BENNETT: Well, I think it's right up there with everything the Australians have submitted since they joined us, I think 2015 it was. So yes, "Eclipse" is a very fine song. I've just completed my technical analysis of it.
Fun fact: it has three key changes in it. So it's -- yes, it's a remarkable bit of songwriting. It's very polished. It's extremely well performed. And, of course, being Delta Goodrem, she even has time for a piano solo near the end.
KINKADE: She is a talent. And, of course, we are hearing that Finland is a front-runner this year.
From a musical perspective, what entries or styles stand out to you?
BENNETT: Well, you mentioned the Finnish entry, "Liekinheitin." My Finnish is not so great. It means flame thrower in Finnish. And it features the -- its main feature is a violin solo, which takes the place of the chorus. So that ones hotly tipped. And I agree with the pundits. I think it's going to do really well tonight, possibly even be the winner.
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Though I think another contender is the excellent and kind of slightly out there Greek song, which is called "Ferto," which uses some very unusual musical scales and a musical instrument, the Pontian lyra. So it's got a lot more experimentalism. So, to me, tonight is a contest between the safe and the out there. And we'll see who wins.
KINKADE: Well, you've picked winners in the past.
Which would be your pick?
BENNETT: I think I would go with the with the Finns because it follows an archetype that I refer to as Europop, which is fast four on the floor beat, a very shiny production, a lot of electro production values.
And the one of the songwriters playing that violin hook, which is extraordinary. It also ends with a massive climax, which I'm pretty sure is going to set the stadium on fire tonight.
KINKADE: Amazing.
So we'll be talking about that one tomorrow, you think?
BENNETT: I think so. I haven't put a bet on. Maybe I will later today. But if I do, it will be on Finland.
KINKADE: All right. Joe Bennett, appreciate your time. I'll be backing Delta Goodrem from here. Looking forward to watch it. Thanks so much.
BENNETT: Good to be here. KINKADE: Canadian rapper Drake has dropped his highly anticipated
album with a couple of surprises. Drake held a livestream event late Thursday to unveil the album, with the cover showing only a hand wearing a sequined glove.
Then at the end of the livestream, Drake revealed two new surprise albums, "Maid of Honor," featuring an image of his mother, and "Habibti," which is showing a photo of a woman who's completely covered except for her eyes. This is Drake's first solo work since 2024.
Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade for our viewers in North America. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. And for the rest of the world, it's "AFRICAN VOICES."
