Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Met Gala 2025: Stars And Designers Embody Black Dandyism; Germany's Merz Fails To Win Chancellorship In First Vote; U.S. Says It Will Pay Undocumented Migrants To Self-Deport. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 06, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): The day after the massacre in Indian administer Kashmir, the Indian government announced it had foiled a terror plot killing two Pakistanis. Malik's brother denies the allegations too, and says he was just a herder like me. Believes India wants their land before breaking down in tears.

MALIK KHADIM, BROTHER: (Speaking foreign language).

ROBERTSON: It's OK. It's OK. It's OK. It's OK.

KHADIM: (Speaking foreign language).

ROBERTSON (voiceover): "India has done a great cruelty to us," he says. "If they want me to leave put a bullet in my head. That's the only way I'll go."

With no end in sight on both sides of the border civilians, as ever, the losers in this decade's old conflict.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: So in this decade's old conflict there's absolutely no shortage of counter -- of accusation and counteraccusation traded between the two sides. India accuses Pakistan of backing militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Pakistan has said that was the case in the past but absolutely isn't the situation now. So the killing of these 26 civilians two weeks ago has really put a spike in those historic tensions.

The United States and China just among a few of the big powers that have got involved to try to push along a diplomatic track and what you were saying there about the secretary general of the U.N. saying the same thing here. But it isn't stopping those tensions rising.

You know, one of the things we found about today is India, over the last few days, as blocked social media accounts of Pakistani stars -- Pakistani influencers on social media. So you have this not just enforced physical separation along the

border -- not just the tensions, the shooting, the shelling going across the borderline -- the tensions in the rhetoric. So all of that speaks to separation. But now you have this -- you know, the people are being separated on both sides. You can't send mail now from Pakistan to India. India won't accept it.

All of these things -- they're small, but they're indicative that this it not on an off ramp yet, not be any stretch.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah.

Nic Robertson, we appreciate the rare access and you bringing those stories to us here. Nic Robertson there in Islamabad. Thank you.

All right. Still ahead, history may repeat itself, but fashion definitely reinvented. Just ahead I will speak with a historian on the inspiration behind this year's Met Gala.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:37:15]

SOLOMON: It was one of fashion's biggest nights on Monday. A-list stars and fashion icons sported their boldest, boundary pushing looks for the Met Gala in New York. This year's theme was "Tailored for You" and it was inspired by the Costume Institute's accompanying exhibition "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style." The landmark exhibition will celebrate Black style and specifically menswear from the 18th century to its revival during the Harlem Renaissance and its impact on fashion today with dandyism as the common thread throughout.

Joining me now is Shantrelle P. Lewis, historian and author of "Dandy Lion," "The Black Dandy," and "Street Style." She comes from us live this morning from the great city of Philadelphia. Shantrelle, great to have you this morning.

I want to get into the looks but before we get there you literally wrote the book and Black dandyism. So how do you define dandyism before we talk about last night?

SHANTRELLE P. LEWIS, HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, "DANDY LION," "THE BLACK DANDY," "STREET STYLE": Uh, good morning, Rahel. Good afternoon. Thanks for having me.

Black dandyism has been a historical social-political movement where Black people -- men, women, trans men -- take traditional European style and mix it with African and diaspora sensibilities.

SOLOMON: So last night, now knowing that, who do you think embodied the theme best?

LEWIS: It was such a tough -- I mean, I think the African sensibilities was missing, Rahel. SOLOMON: OK.

LEWIS: I feel like people embodied classical European dandyism and the idea of people of African descent taking European clothing. I mean, Teyana Taylor most certainly, she killed her outfit. So did Tracee Ellis Ross. She never disappoints. Andre 3000, of course. Just the fact that he came out with something very interesting. I think their looks all were incredible.

But in terms of the core of Black dandyism --

SOLOMON: Yeah.

LEWIS: I can't say that I saw that last night.

SOLOMON: OK. That's really interesting. And look, I mean, you've covered the history of the aesthetic for more than a decade. In 2010, you curated an exhibition on Black dandyism in Harlem.

And you told our producers that you found an aspect of the Met Gala last night disappointing. You said it was exhausting. What did you mean by that?

LEWIS: I mean that it really felt like -- and as experienced by myself and so many people who were at the heart of contemporary Black dandyism -- that was missing. It felt like a movement had been co- opted and so the social-political nature of Black dandyism was completely left out of the conversation.

[05:40:05]

SOLOMON: Yeah.

LEWIS: I think it's easy to talk about Black dandyism in reference to slavery or an event that has happened 100 years ago. But it's a little bit more nuanced to talk about it as a social-political movement over the past two decades where police and state sanctioned violence against Black people not only in the U.S. but in other parts of the world has really impacted our community.

And how Black people, whether in the Congo, which was completely missing from the conversation, to (INAUDIBLE), from Brazzaville and Kinshasa, or even in South Africa where people really literally have shown up wearing their dandy best and self-styling as a social protest towards the negative notions and stereotypes that impact us every day.

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

I actually want to play for you something that the editor-in-chief Anna Wintour of Vogue said. This is when she was speaking to ABC News. I saw it last night. But she admitted in this interview that more work needs to be done when it comes to race and fashion, but she also said this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNA WINTOUR, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VOGUE: What I'm hoping that this exhibition will do is really put a light on the talent of all these arbiters of style and look at their traditions, and their history, and their culture. But most importantly to me, in a way, is when I look at the show I see freedom, I see liberation, I see hope, I see respect, and I see joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Shantrelle, do you think based on what we saw last night -- and I take your point that there were aspects, certainly, of dandyism that spans hundreds of years that were missing. Do you think based on what we saw last night they got -- they got it right? They got some parts right? I mean, how do you see that based on what you just heard from Anna Wintour.

LEWIS: I think the joy was there if you want to celebrate consumerism and if you want to celebrate celebrities themselves. But if you really are honoring the core of Black dandyism those people were not there. I wasn't there, right? And it wasn't even about being at a ball or being at a gala, but it's about representation and making the invisible visible.

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

LEWIS: And Black dandyism has always been about that, whether during the Civil Rights Movement or reconstruction. Even the men in my own family -- my, like, you know, sixth great grandfather --

SOLOMON: Yeah.

LEWIS: -- was a U.S. diplomat to Haiti and he dressed up. My great- great-great grandfather from Haiti also dressed up, and my great- grandfather from Jamaica also dressed up.

So the idea that joy was there -- I mean, first of all, if Anna Wintour is actually defining Black dandyism for the rest of the world, I think that's where the problem lies.

And, I mean, some -- you know congratulations to Monica Miller. She's a longtime collaborator of mine --

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

LEWIS: -- when I first curated "Dandy Lion." I always invited Monica to participate in a conversation and to help contextualize it from historical aspects.

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

LEWIS: But in terms of what dandyism absolutely represents today, particularly the social-political movement, that's totally taken out of the conversation and efforts to present this aspect of Black joy in a space during very perilous times.

SOLOMON: Shantrelle, before I let you go, when this Met is a thing of the past and forgotten -- obviously this is -- this is a topic and an aesthetic that you have spent a lot of time researching, studying, curating -- what do you hope people take with them or remember? What one thing do you hope people remember about the aesthetic and the history?

LEWIS: Go back to your past and fetch it. That's a Ghanaian Akan proverb of Sankofa. And it's this idea of remembering your ancestry, remembering your lineage, remembering your heritage, and most importantly remembering your identity. Being able to speak up in the face of injustice. Being able to give voice to the powerless. And using individual style, not trying to fit into the box.

You know, with all of the black that I saw last night, that was very disappointing. I wish that people were wearing African prints. If they were wearing more pops of color.

And so don't be afraid to be an individual. That's really what Black dandyism is all about.

SOLOMON: OK. Shantrelle P. Lewis. We'll leave it here, but we appreciate your look this morning. We appreciate you coming and serving looks this morning at 5:45 on a Tuesday morning. Thank you.

LEWIS: Thank you, Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

All right. And still to come, the Trump administration has a new plan to convince undocumented migrants to deport themselves.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:49:15]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is 5:48 here. Here are some of the stories we're watching for you this morning.

President Trump will welcome Canada's prime minister to Washington today. It's Mark Carney's first visit to the White House since he took office in March. The two are expected to focus on tariffs and the U.S.-Canada relationship. Carney broke tradition by visiting Europe on his first official foreign trip.

Multiple explosions have erupted in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, according to Reuters. There is no word yet on the cause of the blast and fires, but this is happening near Sudan's main maritime port where hundreds of thousands of displaced people have sought refuge from the country's civil war.

[05:50:00]

After years of delay the deadline to have a Real ID in the U.S. is set for Wednesday, and if you don't have one -- well, you can run into problems getting through airport security or entering certain federal facilities. A law was passed 20 years ago based on recommendations from the 911 commission.

All right, we want to get back to our breaking news that we brought you at the top of the hour where, in Germany, conservative party leader Friedrich Merz has failed to win enough votes in Parliament to become the next chancellor.

Now, this is only the first round of voting, but it is an expected setback for the head of the Christian Democratic Union. His election was thought to be a sure thing after is party secured a coalition deal with the Centre-left Social Democrats.

Now, the legislature is not expected to hold another vote today, but lawmakers still do have about two weeks or 14 days to elect Merz or another candidate with an outright majority.

And let's take a look and see how this is impacting markets in Europe right now with the DAX off about one point. Let's call it -- let's round up and call it 1.6 percent on DAX, extending those losses after this result and after news of this broke. So we'll continue to watch that as well.

Meantime, the Trump administration is unveiling its latest plans for mass deportations, promising cash to those who leave on their own. On Monday, the Homeland Security Department announced that it will make payment of $1,000 as well as travel assistance to undocumented migrants who voluntarily return to their country of origin.

U.S. officials claim that one person has already taken advantage of the program and that other migrants have booked tickets.

President Trump says that those who do not take the offer and who are detained and deported will "never get a path to come back." But for those who leave voluntarily he's promising benefits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from. And they have a period of time and if they make it, we're going to work with them so that maybe some day with a little work they can come back in if they're good people. If they're the kind of people that we want in our company. Industrious people that could love our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: More now from CNN's Priscilla Alvarez in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Trump administration, on Monday, announcing a new program -- one intended to have undocumented immigrants in the United States self-deport. Now according to the Department of Homeland Security, this would include a one-way airline ticket and also a $1,000 stipend.

Now according to senior Trump officials this would still be more cost- effective. They say that arresting an individual, detaining them, and deporting them can cost the administration around $17,000, and a ticket and a stipend would be less than that.

They also teased incentives down the road, saying that it's possible that someone who is undocumented now and leaves voluntarily may have a chance of returning in the future.

Now immigration attorneys say it's more complicated than that and many cases are unique. There's also the question of travel documents and what would happen for someone who doesn't have one even if they want to return to their home country.

Now it's also, in many ways, a concession of how difficult it is to deport undocumented immigrants. That has been true for multiple administrations as the federal government deals with limited resources and personnel. The administration intent on trying to see through President Trump's mass deportation pledge now offering another way for undocumented immigrants to leave the United States.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs appeared in court on Monday as jury selection began in his federal criminal trial. He told the judge that he was "a little nervous" as lawyers questioned potential jurors.

Fifteen people were assessed as jurors on the first day with many showing knowledge of the case. Several said that they had seen the hotel surveillance video of Combs assaulting his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. One potential juror was dismissed after calling the video damning.

Combs has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including sex trafficking. He faces up to life in prison if convicted on all counts.

And still ahead for us the cardinals are in place and the conclave will begin on Wednesday. Still ahead we'll tell you about the lengths that the Vatican is going to to ensure total secrecy during the vote to select a new pope.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:58:40]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

The Vatican is getting ready to -- getting ready for the conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis. The process begins Wednesday. And according to the Vatican all 133 cardinals who will vote have already arrived in Rome. The conclave begins with a single ballot on the first day. After that, four ballots will be held every day until a pope is chosen.

And ahead of the conclave cardinals are giving little away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it will be short, hopefully.

REPORTER: Will it be positive? Will it be quick?

CARDINAL WILLIAM SENG CHYE GOH, ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE: We won't know. We need to listen to the Holy Spirit.

REPORTER: He didn't say anything just yet?

GOH: He is saying many things, but we need to listen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Italian state media says that mobile phone signals will be deactivated on Wednesday and signal jammers will be used in the Vatican. All cardinals will also have to give up their phones and electronic devices. It's part of an effort to ensure complete secrecy during the conclave.

And Brazil has paid a stunning tribute to the late pope. The image of Pope Francis was projected onto the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Francis was the pope -- first pope from South America.

The world famous landmark also bore the message "Todos! Todos! Todos!" It means "everyone" and refers to a famous chant by Francis during a visit to Portugal in 2023. Francis told the crowd that the church had room for everyone.