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Senate Budget Hawks 'Understand' Musk's Disappointment in Bill; Public Opinion Grows in Lively, Baldoni Legal Battle. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 04, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: The shop is located near a national park, so elephant sightings aren't exactly unusual. This particular elephant is actually pretty well-known in the community.

[06:00:10]

Park rangers were eventually able to guide the hungry pachyderm away.

All right, that'll do it for us this morning. Thanks for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon, live in New York. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, June 4. And here's what's happening right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

Elon Musk burning bridges on his way out the door, calling the president's agenda "a disgusting abomination." Could his criticism influence some Senate Republicans to vote no?

Plus, is the president having buyer's remorse? His private complaints about his picks for Supreme Court.

Then, if you are feeling the squeeze financially, you're not alone. Household debt steadily creeping up. Is this a red flag for the economy?

And "It Ends With Us" drama will seemingly never end. Why Blake Lively is dropping part of her suit against Justin Baldoni. And is this actually a win for his legal team?

Six a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at Capitol Hill, where it was probably a restless night for a lot of lawmakers.

Good morning to you. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for waking up with us.

In just a few hours, President Trump is going to host key Senate Republicans from a crucial committee at the White House as he pushes forward on his so-called "big, beautiful bill," or "discussing abomination," which is how Elon Musk described it.

So, according to the president's biggest financial backer, that bill is precisely that. The world's richest man hopped on X Tuesday to call it "massive, outrageous" and "pork-filled," and says it will add to America's budget deficit.

The social media assault on the bill from one of the president's biggest supporters, caught House Speaker Mike Johnson, off-guard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): My friend Elon is terribly wrong about the one big, beautiful bill. Elon is missing it. OK? And it's not personal.

I know that the -- the E.V. mandate is very important to him. That is going away, because the government should not be subsidizing these things.

But for him to come out and pan the whole bill is, is, to me, just very disappointing, very surprising, in the light of the conversation I had with him yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: While the House Speaker may disagree, several Republican senators who have already voiced concerns over the bill agree with Musk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): New spending in this bill actually exceeds all the work he did to try to find savings, so I can understand his disappointment that the spending, the new spending actually would exceed all the work they did to find cuts. And I'd be disappointed, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Evan McMorris-Santoro, reporter at "NOTUS"; Charlie Dent, former Republican congressman from Pennsylvania; and Kristen Soltis Anderson, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist.

I feel like I need to start with a little translation from the House Speaker there, because as soon as you hear, "my friend," that's kind of the "bless your heart" of, like, Capitol speech.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, REPORTER, "NOTUS": Yes.

CORNISH: And then the other thing I heard was him mentioning E.V. credits and sort of seeding the idea that Musk has a vested in -- you're nodding -- has kind of a vested interest in getting this bill a certain way.

I don't know who wants to jump in. There's a lot of angles here.

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: Well, the angle is it's funny that Elon Musk said the bill is filled with pork, but he seems to be most upset about the removal of the green energy tax credits, which many could call pork. And so, that obviously would benefit him and his company.

So, I think that's where a lot of the anger is. It's over those green energy provisions.

CORNISH: Yes.

DENT: Although it's likely that the Senate may restore many of those provisions. So, maybe Elon Musk will say something nice if they restore them.

CORNISH: And of course, this is happening just after his exit from the White House. And so, there's so much speculation about their relationship.

But how do you think this actually -- yes, how does this affect this congressional legislation?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, I think what you said about Mike Johnson is totally right. You know, that was that classic, like, you know, my friend Elon, he's just a little mixed up.

CORNISH: Yes.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: You know, very much a different tone when it comes to Musk.

I mean, it wasn't long ago -- December of last year, right -- Musk came out, said a bill that Mike Johnson liked was a bad idea, that spending bill. And it got squashed immediately. Every Republican jumped on this right away.

It does not feel like that is where things are going right now. I can say that I have not talked to anyone. My colleagues at "NOTUS" have not talked to anybody who thinks that Elon is going to kill this bill with this tweet.

CORNISH: Yes. It makes sense, given his public polling. Like, he is a very unpopular figure now. But it hadn't been the case with Republicans. Now I'm in your territory polling.

OK, Kristen, don't -- don't sit there with your hands crossed, letting me ramble.

[06:05:02]

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, Donald Trump is more influential and powerful with Republican politicians than Elon Musk is.

And if, back in December, there were questions about who really is the voice of influence and power, I think that's all been clarified by the last couple of months. Donald Trump is the one with the influence and power over House Republicans and Senate Republicans.

And that is why I agree. I think it's highly likely this bill gets across the finish line. Tweeting is easy. Governing is hard.

CORNISH: OK.

ANDERSON: The other thing is that what Musk is pressing for here is for the bill to cut more in spending. And to the extent that there are clashes going on, not all of them are about increasing cuts.

You have some folks like Senator Josh Hawley, who has expressed some concern about cuts to Medicaid, saying, we maybe cut too much.

So, I think ultimately, for those who are saying, "Ha, ha, ha, look."

CORNISH: yes.

ANDERSON: I'm -- I'm --

(CROSSTALK)

CORNISH: But does it put wind in the sails for the people who are reluctant? So --

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, I mean --

CORNISH: No, hold on one second.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Sure, of course.

CORNISH: Because I think we do have a sound bite here. You remember where some senators are voicing concerns. People, of course, are watching Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins here. Here's what they've been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): What we've been hearing mostly from Alaskans, is on the Medicaid side. Concerns that there may be significant cuts to Medicaid that would further deny access to health care.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): It looks like PEPFA has been cut. And I consider that to be possibly the most successful public health program that has ever been used in Africa and other parts of the world.

So, I do not support the reduction of PEPFA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, to your point, it's not people who want to spend less. It's people who are like, we need to spend specifically on these things I care about.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Well, I think if the bill comes down to Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins, it will look very different than it looks now. That's true. That's not the pathway for this bill that Republicans are sort of

going through here. We have not seen that push in that direction that much.

I think that what we're dealing with here is this conversation of how to get these fiscal hawks, right? That's what the conversation was -- was in the House, too.

So, even though the conversation, the pushback from the White House is, oh, Elon only cares about the subsidies, right? And the E.V. credits, for example, no one said that before when Elon was talking about doing all the things he was doing in the government with his own conflict of interest with his own companies back then. Right?

They're saying it now, because he's saying something that they don't like.

But this push towards fiscal responsibility, you know, towards fiscal responsibility, as those people would say, that pushing against the deficit, that's a very powerful movement.

You know, one of the things about this Elon conversation, we have a powerful lobbyist in the "NOTUS" newsletter this morning who is saying that, look, Elon and the talk about the deficit, it will not kill this bill. But I won't say that on the record because I don't want to get on the wrong side of these deficit people. Right?

Because it's still --

CORNISH: Because it's meaningful. Yes.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: -- a very, very powerful thing. I don't think it's going to come down to PEPFA --

CORNISH: Right.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: -- like Susan Collins wants. I think it's going to come down to how much are they going to cut these programs, and what is the political risk that they run, and how can they balance that?

DENT: Well, look, I think the Senate, at the end of the day, is going to do less on cuts, less Medicaid cuts, less cuts to SNAP, less cuts to student loans and other programs and green energy credits, which should please Elon.

And they're going to do less on the SALT deduction. They're not going to do a $40,000 deduction.

CORNISH: Yes, this is the cap for state and local taxes.

DENT: Yes. For state and local tax deductions. So, just expect that. So, the fiscal hawks are probably going to be very disappointed with what the Senate advances.

And by the way, it's really rich, though, that Elon is complaining about the pork when you know what he's complaining about are things that would actually add cost to the bill: by restoring the green energy tax credits, which the Senate will likely do. But that seemed to be his primary complaint.

CORNISH: Yes. And to be clear, in this process, it goes back to the House, because this is a reconciliation bill. So, this conversation is far from over.

Group chat, stay with me. We've got a lot to talk about today.

Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, a hotel security guard testifies that he took a bribe from Sean Combs. Could this be a tipping point for prosecutors as they attempt to build a racketeering case?

Plus, overnight, President Trump's steel tariffs took effect. What this could mean for your wallet.

And an antiquated system. How the transportation secretary hopes to fast-track a complete overhaul of air traffic control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The equipment's been working, right? It's -- but we're starting to -- It's like I'm driving my car, and I'm hearing some knocks. I've got some smoke coming out of the back. I see I've got some problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[06:14:09]

CORNISH: It is almost 15 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Two Chinese researchers charged with smuggling a biological pathogen into the U.S. Federal prosecutors say the pair planned to study it at a University of Michigan lab.

The pathogen is described as a, quote, "potential agroterrorism" weapon that can cause disease in certain plants like corn, rice and barley.

And the Trump administration plans to rescind federal guidance issued in 2022 to health care providers, granting patients access to an abortion in a medical emergency.

In 2022, the Biden administration issued the guidance to provide abortion services when medically necessary to treat emergency medical situations even in states where the procedure is banned.

And the FAA is looking for a company to build a new U.S. Air traffic control system. The department plans to replace core infrastructure to help improve efficiency, reduce outages, and reinforce safety.

It's unclear how long the process will take or how much it will cost. But Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he's depending on Congress to help fund the project.

Ahead, on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump not happy with one of his Supreme Court nominations. Why the president is expressing frustration with Justice Amy Coney Barrett behind closed doors.

Plus, Blake Lively versus Justin Baldoni. Why are we so obsessed?

Good morning, Miami. Parts of the area are under a flood watch this morning. There's going to be severe weather rolling through, so please stay safe.

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[06:20:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETHENNY FRANKEL, REALITY TV STAR: The Blake Lively/Justin Baldoni case is the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) around and find out case. It's the "I've started swimming from Cuba to Florida. I'm halfway there, and now I am drowning. And I don't know whether to keep swimming or go back to shore."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, it's time to go off script now, because a reality star talking about a tabloid case is a snake eating its tail. Because everyone has an opinion on the legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

So, the news is that Lively just dropped her emotional distress claims against Baldoni. This was after a move from his legal team to go after her medical records to prove those claims.

But Lively's other claims of sexual harassment and retaliation remain.

So, even though this case is set to go to trial next year, it seems the public is actually still pretty obsessed with it, with fans on both sides offering opinions. And it's sparking conversations about power and accountability in Hollywood.

Joining me now to discuss is Fran Hoepfner, senior writer at "Vulture." Fran, good morning.

FRAN HOEPFNER, SENIOR WRITER, "VULTURE": Good morning.

CORNISH: So, the concern was over the medical records, right? She's basically still accusing him of harassing her, still accusing her of retaliation, but she is dropping the emotional distress part?

HOEPFNER: That's most -- Yes, mostly that's correct. I think part of what's just happened is a great example of how this case has been litigated in the public view.

Which is that her team tried to withdraw these charges, and his team then publicly said, She's doing this because she doesn't want to release the medical records.

Whereas her team said, We're just doing this to streamline what's happening. We're trying to simplify things for ourselves.

And it basically has come to seem as though no legal party in this case can make any decision without the other having to weigh in and there being this mini back-and-forth anytime there's an update.

CORNISH: The irony of this is "The New York Times" reporting from a few months ago basically implied that a lot of this was sort of dark arts P.R. Like a lot of the battle with them and even her concerns about her reputation came from how this stuff is sort of battled among fans, Reddit threads, online. Is that part of what's driving this?

HOEPFNER: Definitely. I think when there are these extremely public cases now, there is the court of law and the court of public opinion, and that these battles need to be fought simultaneously.

CORNISH: One of the things you've been talking about in your writing is that we've seen a similar public battle play out in, say, the Amber Heard/Johnny Depp case.

You wrote in April that early criticism of that case was compared to the proceedings to Johnny Depp and Amber Heard and their libel suit. The latter case regarded as domestic affairs as opposed to workplace ones. "Those legal proceedings were also initially pegged as starry right up until it began."

You're talking about the idea of celebrities not wanting to go on court. They don't want to be on trial, and that there is, in fact, good and bad publicity, right? Not all publicity, as it turns out, is good.

What are the lessons you can take from how the Amber Heard conversation played out to what we're seeing now with Blake Lively?

HOEPFNER: I think when these celebrity trials are sort of way off in the distance, it's easy to imagine them as being this, like, star- studded affair, the way we might think of a red carpet.

Where we think because these celebrities know other celebrities, everyone is going to get roped into everything.

And leading up to the Depp-Heard trial in 2022, there were all these whispers of witnesses who were going to be subpoenaed. James Franco was going to be there. Elon Musk was going to be there.

And when it came down to it, this was really just a, you know, domestic violence and libel suit that was litigated between these two people.

I think similarly, there has been big interest in this case because of the Taylor Swift of it all and the Ryan Reynolds of it all, that people wonder if all these other celebrities that they know are going to get roped into these legal proceedings, when most likely, if this comes to trial next March, it is going to just be Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

CORNISH: The thing is, I thought that this case was remarkable, post- Harvey Weinstein, right? Because it is about harassment. It is about on-set behavior. It is about this woman saying that she was sexually harassed in the industry. But it really feels like the environment has changed.

HOEPFNER: Yes, the environment has been very hostile towards Lively for reasons that feel, for the most part, largely out of her control.

The Baldoni legal team has launched a pretty aggressive P.R. campaign throughout this trial. They, you know -- they've released kind of a really expansive, extended complaint that anyone on the Internet has access to and can read and judge, despite that also being edited and kind of selectively made available.

[06:25:10]

And I also think it's difficult sometimes for the more -- the perceived more powerful celebrity to get through something like this unscathed.

You know, the Lively/Reynolds empire is quite immense. And I think a certain kind of ire towards the rich right now means that people think of it as a kind of schadenfreude that this is happening to her, when this is actually a pretty routine workplace complaint and should be taken as such.

CORNER: Fran Hoepfner, senior news writer with "Vulture." Thank you for being with us.

HOEPFNER: Thank you so much.

CORNISH: Next on CNN THIS MORNING, fast track for deportation. Why the wife and five children of the Molotov cocktail attacker in Boulder could be forced to leave the U.S.

Plus, inflation and debt have Americans feeling the squeeze. Why it's about to get even tighter.

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