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CNN This Morning

Tariffs On Car Parts Entering The U.S. Come Into Force; Newark Airport Is Experiencing Major Flight Delays; Millions Vote As Polls Begin To Close For Australian Federal Election; PM Carney To Meet With President Trump In Washington; Prince Harry Says He Wants Reconciliation With His Family. Vatican Installs Chimney on Roof of Sistine Chapel Ahead of Conclave; Zelle Restores Service After Payment Outage Issue; Wanda Barzee Arrested for Violating Probation Terms After Visiting Park. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired May 03, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:29]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN This Morning, everyone. It is Saturday, May 3rd. I'm Omar Jimenez in for Victor Blackwell. A lot of news to get to, including another round of President Donald Trump's tariffs now in effect. This time it's on auto parts and it could drive up your car costs by as much as $4,000, according to a CNN analysis. We'll have more on that soon.

Plus, the moment President Trump was pressed on whether he would be OK with a recession to achieve his long term economic goals and going nowhere fast, there is no end in sight to what's been growing air travel delays at one of the busiest airports in the world. FAA staffing might be to blame. And a pivotal vote today will decide if Elon Musk's Starbase will take over a Texas town. We're going to tell you what people who live there are telling CNN.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And a lot of severe thunderstorm reports in just the last 24 hours. We'll detail where these storms are expected to go later today.

JIMENEZ: All right. We're going to start this morning with another round of tariffs now in effect, this one on imported auto parts. And it could upend the auto industry. Previous auto tariffs left U.S. made cars mostly untouched. But with this new tariff in place, not a single U.S. car manufacturer will get a passenger.

Now the CEO of General Motors told CNN the tariffs would cost the company between 4 billion and $5 billion this year. But what does this mean for car buyers?

So, we may not see any price hikes in the short term. Experts, though, estimate the added cost of the tariffs could average to about $4,000 per vehicle. But Trump doesn't seem worried about how these tariffs will affect the economy.

The president now seems to say it's okay if the country takes an economic downturn in the short term. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Omar, as President Trump spends a working weekend at its Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the economy remains front and center on the minds of the challenges of this White House, of this administration even as the White House is releasing its budget blueprint, if you will, to slash spending across the government. The president was asked about the question of a recession by NBC's Kristen Welker.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: And that's my question. Long term, is it okay in the short term to have a recession?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Look, yes, everything's OK. What we are I said this is a transition period. I think we're going to do fantastically.

ZELENY: The president talking about a transition period, that is something he certainly did not talk about when he was running for office, when he promised to lower prices on day one. But there is no doubt about it. The president is simply trying to buy more time for the economy to get back up to speed, even as the administration tries to ink some type of a trade deal that so far has been elusive. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAE)

JIMENEZ: Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much. Joining me now is White House correspondent for Bloomberg, Skylar Woodhouse. Really appreciate you being here. Let's start where Jeff left off a little bit with the tariffs. How significant do you see this round of auto parts tariffs compared to the ones on imported vehicles that were already in place?

SKYLAR WOODHOUSE, BLOOMBERG WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Morning, Omar. This is sort of just the next step in the tariff saga. And it comes at a time where the president, you know, is sort of finalizing his budget. There's concerns around the economy, financial markets all across the world are still sort of, you know, adjusting to what the U.S. is doing in terms of its tariff policy.

So this really is just the next step and what we're going to see end this trade story. And it's only a matter of time before, you know, consumers will either start to feel sort of the brunt of higher, you know, car prices or not. But it's something the administration is certainly paying attention to as they try and navigate an economy where things are very expensive, but at the same time tariffs potentially mean higher prices.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, part of the posturing from the White House to this point has been well on the tariff front at least. Well, now we have a chance to actually negotiate fair deals with some of these countries. And, you know, China has now signaled an openness to at least explore potential trade talks. A lot of qualifying language there.

But is there any sense of significant progress on any of those talks with any country to this point?

[06:05:00]

WOODHOUSE: Yes, I mean, the White House has -- it's continuing to say, you know, trade talks are happening. You know, they keep touting all of the countries that are reaching out, you know, trying to secure these trade deals with the U.S. and, you know, they're leaning into that as it's a good thing that these countries are willing to come to the table and talk to the U.S. and sort of get these trade deals.

But, you know, we still haven't seen anything super concrete in terms of what do these trade negotiations look like. You know, we all know about the 90-day pause with the tariffs, but, you know, we're still trying to navigate. OK, well, what are these trade deals looking like? When can we potentially see that first deal and with which country?

And yes, the administration definitely is sort of looking for maybe, you know, that win with one of those trade negotiations.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And, you know, before you mentioned Trump's budget, we are getting a look at his first sort of budget blueprint. Essentially, top lines, boosting defense spending and provide a lot of money for border security, but then cuts for things like education, foreign aid, health, the environment and more.

Just based on your initial reading of this blueprint, are you surprised that sort of the priorities laid out here? I mean, how do you see some of his budget priorities as well actually playing out with the Congress that would need to approve it?

WOODHOUSE: Yes, I think what we saw from the skinny budget, or what we're calling it, the skinny budget that came out from Friday, it's nothing that is too surprising. A lot of what the administration is doing, the President said on the campaign trail, and if you listen to one of President Trump's rallies, he most likely did detail in some shape or form what he was going to do.

So obviously with the cuts to education, you know, that's the big one everyone was anticipating. He's also talked a lot about making sure the U.S. has sort of the greatest military in the world. And it's something that, you know, he's doing right. He's leaning into with, you know, giving more money to, you know, Department of Defense, you know, some of these things are not so surprising.

I think what will be interesting to see, especially as the full budget rolls out, is all right, especially on the health side, if there are potentially some wiggle room of, you know, cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, which the administration has said they're not touching, then, you know, maybe we could see some more pushback from Congress, especially as the full thing continues to roll out. JIMENEZ: Yes, sure. You know, let's talk personnel as well before you

go. Actually, because National Security Adviser Mike Waltz removed from his position and nominated for U.N. ambassador. I know Vice President Vance has said this is actually a promotion.

But I wonder, how is it being viewed at the White House, not just the move itself, but sort of the timing of this move?

WOODHOUSE: Yes, I mean, the move came sort of right on that cusp of the, you know, the administration marking its first 100 days in office. And one thing the administration has tried to do differently from President Trump's first term, which, if anyone, you know, thinks back to those all those years ago, it was a revolving door in terms of, like, people who were in leadership positions, a lot of his top advisors. You know, it was constantly a revolving door if he was in and out.

And so this go around, they were really trying to establish that, you know, sense of, you know, sort of like professionalism in terms of, like, they're all on the same page. We're not going to have that revolving door. People are going to come do their job.

We're going to sort of leave out the, quote, I guess, scandal element of it that we sort of saw in the first administration. So, you know, now I think the administration sort of held off as long as they could in terms of making a move around what happened with signal. And this is just sort of that first move that we've seen in terms of one of Trump's, you know, top aides, advisers being shuffled into something else.

JIMENEZ: Well, and, you know, the UN ambassador role is a Senate confirmed position. So it's -- at the very least there. There are many. I think they're hoping to get some questions to him in his Senate confirmation process, but we'll see. Skyler Woodhouse, really appreciate you taking the time. Thanks for being here.

All right. Meanwhile, today, Newark Liberty International Airport faces its sixth day of major flight delays. So far, 26 delays have been reported there this morning. It's literally just past 6:00 a.m. according to the FlightAware tracking website.

The FAA says the travel disruptions are because of air traffic control staffing issues. The backlog actually began back on Monday. Now, starting this weekend, United Airlines will cancel 35 daily round trips on its schedule from Newark Airport, which is one of its major hubs.

This morning as well 90 million people from Florida to New England are at risk from severe weather. And CNN's Allison Chinchar is with me now.

[06:10:01]

So, Allison, what are the biggest threats we're looking at here?

CHINCHAR: Well, you could end up seeing some more delays at newer. JIMENEZ: That's sure.

CHINCHAR: It could end up being actually weather related, which hasn't always been the case this week. But they're one of the few places that's going to see some of those stronger thunderstorms. But a lot more of them also creep down into the Deep South.

So let's take a look at the map. And again, this is where we're talking about this entire line right through here. This is where we're talking about all the rain and yes, even the potential for some strong to severe thunderstorms.

Now right now you've got some of those showers already across the northeast portions of the mid Atlantic. And then this line right down here, this is where we're looking at some of those stronger thunderstorms this morning, mostly right now across portions of Alabama starting to creep into the panhandle of Florida as well.

Now the good news for Texas, most of them are finally starting to end. So if you heard those rumbles of thunder say around the Houston or Galveston area, it's ending. It's finally pushing back out over the open waters.

But as we go through the rest of the day, especially in the next couple of hours, that sun's going to come out, it's going to start heating things back up again. You're going to see more showers and thunderstorms beginning to especially across this area right through here. This is where we have the best chance for those strong to severe thunderstorms, damaging winds 60-70 miles per hour. Could see some hail and also a few isolated tornadoes, especially on the south side of that line there.

But here's a look at this. OK, so this is this morning. Here's the what you basically just saw on the radar. But now notice this, once we get the heating of the day, see that new line that starts to form out behind it, that's what's going to roll in as we go through the back end of this system and that will continue through the overnight hours as well.

Now one thing to note too, there' also the potential for some of the flooding across portions of these states and that also includes Kentucky. Well, that's important because there's kind of a big race there today.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

CHINCHAR: I don't know if you knew about this, but --

JIMENEZ: Derby.

CHINCHAR: Yes, it could end up being quite a muddy track today, Omar, for a lot of those people. And you know, maybe have a mint julep in one hand and an umbrella in the other.

JIMENEZ: Yes. I mean, is it going to be a lot of rain? I mean, how significant is the impact expected to be? I guess, question. CHINCHAR: Right. So you're going to have a couple of rounds that kind

of move through. So it's going to be one of those scenarios where you've got some rain that will come into the afternoon and then certainly after the race they may actually get lucky, however, though, that during the race itself, maybe we won't actually have it be raining. Fingers crossed.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Well, tell us of the mud. It's going to be muddy no matter what. Allison Chinchar, really appreciate it. Thank you.

All right. Meanwhile, coming up, we are going down under. Australians wrapped up voting in national elections moments ago, and comparisons between Conservative candidates there and Donald Trump here were put to the test. We're live in Sydney with the results starting to come in.

And Britain's Prince Harry says he hopes to make amends with members of the royal family. We'll tell you why he says King Charles no longer speaks to him.

Plus, Texas could get a new city today. Starbase is the home of the launch site for Elon Musk's SpaceX. We visit the company town to see how residents feel about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're going to be one of the original settlers of Starbase Texas. I guess that's the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope so. Pioneers. Pioneers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel that way or is that being.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels like manifest destiny sometimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:17:47]

JIMENEZ: All right, breaking news, everyone. Polls have closed in Australia's national election for prime minister and we're waiting to see who will be declared the winner. But the early counts suggest a swing toward Anthony Albanese, the incumbent's party, according to CNN affiliate Sky News.

Now, he was defending his seat as the Labour Party candidate. The opposition candidate is Peter Dutton of the center-right Liberal Party. I want to get right to NINE network reporter Massilia Aili. She's just outside prime minister's home in Sydney, Australia for us. So can you just give us a sense of what we know to this point? Let's just start there.

MASSILIA AILI, NINE NETWORK REPORTER: Good evening to you, Omar. Good evening. From, as you mentioned, Kirribilli House here in Sydney, Australia, where the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is right now inside probably closely watching the votes as they come in.

Now, as we come to you, the votes have started over the last two hours and it's currently in favor of the current prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

JIMENEZ: And you know, for some of our American viewers who might be watching and wondering, why are we following the Australian prime minister's race so closely here? You know, one of the things we've been monitoring, for example, in Canada, we saw President Trump's tariffs and rhetoric galvanize the Liberal Party there in Canada.

But in Australia, for you, Massilia, for what you've seen there, what has been the impact of Trump and American trade policy on this election because it seems to have impacted sort of the momentum on how this election would unfold.

AILI: Absolutely. It has had quite a significant impact here as it has all around the world. It's been quite significant over this campaign over the last five weeks, in particular in terms of voters deciding which leader would best fit in negotiating with President Trump when it comes to those all important tariffs and, of course, trade.

However, another quite poignant way that it has had an impact is Trump's style of politics. It's been quite polarizing and it's been said that at times a Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, has mimicked Trump's style when it comes to campaigning, which some say has not been popular amongst the voters.

[06:20:11]

They say that here the main focus for the voters has been those domestic issues.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, this election as well is expected to be dominated by younger voters here. What are the proposals that each campaign rolled out specifically targeting that demographic? And did you get a sense that while domestic issues were at the heart of this election, that international relations played a little bit more of a role?

AILI: Yes, absolutely. It's important to note that young voters, those are millennials and Gen Z make up about 47 percent of voters in this election, which is significant. So targeting the key issues that affect them has been a key part of this election campaign. So labor, for example, has been targeting those cost of living issues, making university and TAFE (ph) more affordable, housing more affordable.

The coalition as well, led by the opposition leader, has focused on housing. However, there have been some issues and some suggestions that he really hasn't been quite fit in targeting the other issues, social issues, that these younger voters really care about, particularly when it comes to climate change and gender equity.

JIMENEZ: Massilia Aili, continuing to follow the returns as they come in. Thank you so much for taking the time. Best of luck with the coverage. All right. President Donald Trump has had a significant impact on the

Canadian general election. As we spoke about a little moments a few moments ago, and now a little bit more than a week later, Prime Minister Mark Carney will head to Washington for talks with President Donald Trump.

Now, Carney and his Liberal Party rode to victory, essentially with tough talk against the Trump tariffs, at the very least, played a significant role. Now he's going to head into a meeting in the coming weeks, anticipating hard negotiation and difficult conversations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I go there with the expectation of constructive, difficult, but constructive discussions. That's the spirit of the conversations that the President and I had. You know, you go to these meetings well prepared, understanding the objectives of your counterpart, and always acting in the best interests of Canada, and we'll go from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And he's signaling that one thing that definitely won't be on the agenda is anything to do with the idea of Canada becoming the United States 51st state.

Britain's Prince Harry has revealed details about his estranged relationship with his father, King Charles. The Duke of Sussex says the King stopped speaking to him because of his legal battle to restore security for him and his wife and children when they visit the U.K. Still, Prince Harry says he hopes to reconcile with his family. CNN's Max Foster has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: I would love reconciliation with my family.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prince Harry revealing he no longer speaks to his father, King Charles, in an explosive BBC interview.

PRINCE HARRY: There's no point in continuing to fight anymore. As I said, life is precious. I don't know how much longer my father has. He won't speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to -- it would be nice to reconcile.

FOSTER (voice-over): The Duke of Sussex spoke to the BBC after losing a court case over his security arrangements when he and his family visit the United Kingdom. Harry saying Friday's ruling makes it impossible for his family to return to the UK.

PRINCE HARRY: Obviously pretty gutted about the decision. We thought it was going to go our way. I can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point. FOSTER (voice-over): The British government downgraded Prince Harry's

security in 2020 after he and Meghan stepped down as working royals and moved to California where they're raising their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

PRINCE HARRY: When that decision happened, I couldn't believe it. The one thing that I could rely on is my family keeping me safe.

FOSTER (voice-over): A palace spokesperson issued a statement about the court's ruling, telling CNN, issues raised by Harry in the interview were examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.

The Duke of Sussex also talked about the years long rift with the royal family. He said the publication of his book spare in 2023 ripped open old wounds after he shared scathing and intimate details about his experience as a royal.

PRINCE HARRY: Of course some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book. Of course they will never forgive me for lots of things.

FOSTER (voice-over): But losing this case, Harry said, is a sticking point.

PRINCE HARRY: The only thing that I've been asking for throughout this whole process is safety.

[06:25:02]

I love my country. I always have done, despite what some people in that country have done.

FOSTER (voice-over): Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Thank you, Max. Now it's a clear sign the Vatican is preparing to elect a new pope. Coming up, the changes at the Sistine Chapel and the upcoming conclave of cardinals.

And later, is Marco Rubio the busiest man in Washington? We're going to get perspective from an expert on the state of national security in the United States after a big White House shakeup. Stay with us.

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[06:30:00]

JIMENEZ: All right. Welcome back. Signs of the upcoming conclave to select the next pope. Vatican workers finishing up their installation of the chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel. It's the essential signal system for the conclave that starts May 7th. Now, after each round of voting, smoke from the chapel indicates the outcome.

Black for no decision, white, when a new pope has been decided by the sequestered cardinals. Also this morning, Zelle used by millions for instant payments is back online following an outage. The disruption began yesterday and was fixed by the afternoon. But Zelle said the issue was related to Fiserv; the company's payment processor.

They didn't suspect any malicious activity and are working to prevent future outages. And the woman who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart over two decades ago was actually arrested Thursday in Salt Lake City. She's accused of violating her probation as a registered sex offender. Now, the Salt Lake City police department says 79-year-old Wanda Barzee was found at Liberty Park, but her parole conditions banned visits to community parks.

She was released on parole in 2018 after serving nearly nine years for the 2002 kidnapping, while her husband, Brian David Mitchell, remains in prison. And a vote in south Texas could decide today whether Elon Musk's SpaceX launch site becomes an official town called Starbase. A win at the ballot box would be personal for tech billionaire Elon Musk.

His popularity has taken a hit in his time as a special government employee under President Trump. But CNN's Ed Lavandera reports not everyone welcomes the idea of a SpaceX town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's only one way on land anyways to reach SpaceX. For generations, Highway 4 was the road less traveled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we bought out here, all of this was dirt road.

LAVANDERA: And for Rene Medrano(ph), traveling the path less taken to a hidden beach at the southernmost tip of Texas has made all the difference in his life. But this retired high school coach fears Elon Musk and SpaceX are taking too much control over who can access this part of their world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People want to go to Mars, let them go to Mars. There's people that want to go to the beach and enjoy Boca Chica Beach. OK, let's compromise.

LAVANDERA: The latest chapter in SpaceX development is an election tomorrow to make this high-tech outpost an official city. If approved, the city limits would stretch from the Texas coast in-land along Highway 4. Residents here will also elect a mayor and two commissioners, all connected to SpaceX, and are running unopposed.

(on camera): This is the entrance to what is poised to become the newest city in Texas made in the image of Elon Musk, if you will. It is Starbase, Texas.

(voice-over): In recent years, a well-manicured neighborhood has sprouted in this marshy coastal plain. There are airstream trailers, single-family homes, rows of freshly-planted palm trees. SpaceX employs more than 3,000 people in this facility. This will be the proverbial company town. Jared Hockema is a local Democratic Party official and city manager of nearby port Isabel.

(on camera): What is your concern with Starbase becoming a city?

JARED HOCKEMA, CITY MANAGER, PORT ISABEL, TEXAS: SpaceX is great. It's brought a lot of jobs. And the question always comes back. Are you using public power to benefit a private interest?

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Every time SpaceX launches or moves rocket parts, Highway 4 is closed down. The company needs to get permission from local county officials, but SpaceX and some Texas lawmakers want to give SpaceX more control of the road closures and access to the nearby beach.

As we drove the public streets of Starbase, a security guard started following us around. We wrapped up our work and moved along. SpaceX and the candidates running for public office did not respond to CNN's requests for comment.

(on camera): So, you're going to be one of the original settlers of Starbase --

ANTHONY GOMEZ, MANAGING PARTNER, ROCKET RANCH: I hope so --

LAVANDERA: Texas? I guess --

GOMEZ: Yes --

LAVANDERA: That's the way --

GOMEZ: I hope so. Pioneers. Yes --

LAVANDERA: Do you ever -- do you -- do you feel that way or is that being too --

GOMEZ: It feels like manifest destiny sometimes.

LAVANDERA: Anthony Gomez runs a business called Rocket Ranch. Hundreds of people come to this observation point on rocket launch days.

GOMEZ: We do launch observations. It's the closest place to see it from America.

LAVANDERA: Three-point-seven-miles away. So, when that rocket takes off, the big one that --

GOMEZ: You can feel it. Yes, your entire -- I mean, every molecule in your body vibrates with joy. It's amazing.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Gomez says turning Starbase into a city will help Elon Musk and SpaceX make even greater progress in space travel.

GOMEZ: They're moving at an incredible pace. The most important thing about this mission is that it's time-sensitive, like humanity is finite, consciousness is finite. We have to move quickly. LAVANDERA: As we reach the beach with Rene Medrano(ph), he pointed

out SpaceX wants approval for up to 25 launches a year, and why he fears where this development is headed.

[06:35:00]

(on camera): Do you worry about what Elon Musk and SpaceX is up to by trying to create this city?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number one thing that I think a lot of people are worried about is to get to SpaceX, have a gate, and it says closed forever. And then now, we can never, ever enjoy the beach that we have now.

LAVANDERA: If you're expecting a close election result, well, don't. This could very well be a landslide. In fact, one resident we spoke to said he expects the initiative to make Starbase a city to get 99 percent, maybe even a 100 percent of the vote. But what happens next is the real question. Everyone expects Starbase to continue growing and the development to continue, and that's what's causing the growing pains between those who've lived here and the newcomers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right, we'll see what happens. Ed Lavandera, really appreciate it. Coming up, one man, four jobs. Secretary of State Marco Rubio just added the temporary role of national security adviser to his portfolio. I'll talk to an expert about what effect, if any, juggling so many other roles could have on carrying out that critical job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

JIMENEZ: The White House is working to explain how Secretary of State Marco Rubio will juggle multiple roles, including two national security jobs. Rubio just took on the role of interim national security adviser after Michael Waltz was sidelined. Rubio is also acting USAID director and acting national archivist. Let's discuss with Matthew Shoemaker.

He's a military and national security expert, former Intelligence officer and a U.S. Navy reservist. Good morning, Matthew, good to see you. I just want to start with what is your reaction to Rubio taking on these four roles at once? What's your initial takeaway?

MATTHEW SHOEMAKER, MILITARY & NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT: Omar, thanks very much for having me on again. You know, when I first heard this, that President Trump had decided to give Marco Rubio yet another job, my initial thought was, how in the world is someone, anyone for that matter, it doesn't matter really who you are?

How are they able to handle four of these jobs as you mentioned, you know, this new job itself is not going to be congressionally or Senate confirmed or anything like that. But nonetheless, this is an extraordinarily important role alone. What I also took from this as well is that since President Trump did not have a permanent solution or a permanent representative in place already, this was a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction more than anything, by firing Mike Waltz, since he didn't have someone already in the queue, if you will.

So, for Marco Rubio to take this, it certainly shows that President Trump has placed quite a bit of faith in him to get the job done, at least on some sort of level, to any sort of acceptable degree. But more than anything, you know, giving anyone four jobs like this, it really kind of boggles the mind why anyone would actually allow this.

JIMENEZ: And you know, for those keeping track at home, Rubio will be the first Secretary of State to act as national security adviser since Henry Kissinger in the Nixon administration 50 years ago. But when you -- when you put that into context, can you just maybe compare the national security situation then to what it is now, and how maybe the sort of combination of the jobs might have been different than versus what it would be now.

SHOEMAKER: Sure. So, for the first half of that, you're looking at what is the distinction in the roles more than anything in terms of obviously the Secretary of State, they're the -- they are the chief diplomat of the United States. The Senate has approved them to be the representative on the national or on the international stage of the United States versus the national security adviser, what their role is, is to advise the President, obviously, with regards to national security and to a certain extent, military matters.

They also work hand-in-glove with the Secretary of Defense, as well as the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So, it's a bit -- quite a bit different of a role itself in terms of, you know, historically what the difference is between now and, you know, the time of the '70s with regards to Henry Kissinger. You know, of course, during the '70s, the main thing, of course, was going to be the cold war, going to be things like detente going on, sort of rapprochement between the Soviets and the United States.

But you know, to paint with a little bit of a wide brush, certainly, although, the prospect of nuclear war was always, you know, behind the scenes there, you know, in terms of the complexity of the situation, it arguably is a little less complex back in the '70s than it is now. When we have to deal with terrorism, we have to deal with the rise of A.I., we have to deal with Russia, we have to deal with China.

All of those components play a different role that someone needs to be on top of. And so, to have all of that now compiled into one person, you know, it really kind of swamps the person. They better have an absolutely phenomenal team assisting them more than anything else.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, both Mike Waltz and Rubio were on that controversial Signal chat that accidentally included the "Atlantics" editor-in-chief. Now, Waltz ended up taking responsibility for it. But how was Rubio able to distance himself from that? And in a sense, actually elevate his standing in the White House? Does that tell you anything about sort of how Rubio might be regarded versus others? SHOEMAKER: Sure, yes, so, from my own context in the White House, my

impression that I got from them was that this firing of Michael Waltz really was a loss of faith.

[06:45:00]

Faith that was really instigated by that Signalgate, if you will. And from that, you know, Mike Waltz never was able to recover his -- President Trump's faith in him because of that. So, for whatever reason, the timing of it happened, you know, in the past few days, because of that, you know, that's entirely up to President Trump.

With regards to the way that Marco Rubio ended up coming out of this. You know, if you remember, about a month or so ago, Marco Rubio, although he was in the Signal chat, he didn't really participate a whole lot, at least not to any certain extent that other players had, such as the director of National Intelligence or for that matter, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Pete Hegseth in particular was the one that was really sort of, posting what would arguably be classified information. So, Marco Rubio kind of -- kind of stayed in the back burner more than anything else. So, I think that's the best way that he played his cards more than anything is that, he didn't really participate a whole lot in that discussion.

And therefore, in terms of the blowback that received -- that happened because of that, he just was able to more naturally stay out of it because he wasn't a major participant in there. So, because of that, I think he might have been able to argue to President Trump that he was at least able to weather this storm, and to show that he has to at least a certain extent, a fair amount of good judgment when discussing national security situations.

JIMENEZ: And a fair amount more on his plate these days. Matthew Shoemaker, really appreciate you being here, thanks for the time. All right. Can you imagine life without the internet? Probably not, maybe you can. But coming up, CNN is there as a remote village in the Amazon rainforest gets connected to the world wide web for the first time. Stay with us.

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[06:50:00]

JIMENEZ: Welcome back everyone. Since the launch of its first satellite in 2019, Elon Musk's Starlink has been providing internet access to some of the most remote and untouched places on earth. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and his team journeyed deep into Brazil's Amazon region and documented, once isolated indigenous communities who are now getting internet access for the very first time. It's all part of his upcoming documentary, "THE WIRED RAINFOREST", premiering this Sunday night on the "WHOLE STORY". Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): The

thing that has changed our world forever is now seeping across this vast, vital expanse that has kept us all alive for as long. The internet is coming to here, the Amazon, the forest, that gives the world breath. And to the indigenous communities that have for centuries called this splendid isolation their only home.

And the slow wind-up river provides a rare vanishing glimpse of a world before the internet, of a people who have never been online.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: And CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is with us. Nick, you were on the ground for weeks documenting their lives. What kind of impact did the arrival of these satellite dishes actually have on these communities?

WALSH: Yes, it's extraordinary. I mean, how sudden all of that is. And, you know, it's not as though these are indigenous communities who have never heard of the internet or maybe not been on it when they've ventured into the cities. But it's the huge difference between, I don't know, renting a VHS, Omar and Netflix, you know, everything unlimited in your front room.

And it was amazing to see how all consuming a simple device, I mean, you know, this transforming our lives so suddenly, how that really took a community where when we turned up in one instance in Tambaqui(ph), they were looking after tiny turtles they caught, grilling piranha fish for breakfast. And then a week later, the scene we walk back in on, as ten children really huddled around one device, listening to a Chinese variation on TikTok called Kawaii(ph), endless streams of videos, benign, you know, often nonsense, but very all consuming.

And, you know, you could see there, the stark change that was clearly having in just a week on a community there.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, one of the things I think about, and I know you've mentioned this before, is for many people on the internet, there's sort of this gradual build, right? Where you might have -- some of us, maybe not me, as much as you don't want to date you -- too much, but fax machines, dial up internet, all that sort of -- that sort of thing.

But to go from desktop, and then getting the smartphone, and then there's data, this is gradual push. And then, here you go, here you get everything sort of at once. Did you get a sense that they were cognizant of that, that they were trying to figure out -- that they realized, I guess, how much power they had all of a sudden in an instant?

WALSH: I think for them, the change is something which they possibly took an advantage from, because there they are, you know, one minute, not connected, the next minute, the full force of everything. And for them, it was easier to note the fact that something extreme had just happened, that perhaps they needed to regulate.

[06:55:00]

And I frankly, took away from this experience, the idea that we in our -- in our so-called progress urban environments are so far behind in terms of how we feel we need to regulate and handle this technology. They within a week, could realize they needed to switch it off, the dish in the mornings, throughout the day, have it back on for a little bit at night to make people actually do their normal jobs, to function as they had done before, and they were acutely aware of what had to happen to children.

Whereas you and I, you know, Omar, it's fair to say you were born in the age of Instagram, I still admit, when I started as a journalist using payphones, putting coins in to ring up a human being and speak my story down the phone. You know, it's been a very slow change for most people to go to those fax machines, to the dial up, to the Broadband Wi-Fi, 5G smartphone.

And I think this has kind of crept up on us very slowly. And so, we haven't realized with the same extremity quite how transformative it's been on our lives. In the Amazon, it's bringing healthcare, perhaps that huge benefit, the ability to tell the authorities when the rainforest is being plundered by illegal activity. But it's also helping those poachers, miners and loggers evade the authorities, too.

So, it's kind of an information arms race there. But the startling thing I think for us on this journey was to see how they realized they had a problem and how we haven't in the open world yet. Omar?

JIMENEZ: Nick Paton Walsh, I'm glad someone was using payphones, and that it wasn't me. I got it much easier --

WALSH: Right --

JIMENEZ: These days, appreciate it. "THE WIRED RAINFOREST" airs Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN. There's much more ahead on the next hour of CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND, another round of auto tariffs just went into effect. Could there be long-term consequences for the industry?

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