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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

First U.S. Flight Lands In Venezuela After Seven Years; Elon Musk Wraps Up Three Days Of Testimony; Iran's Parliament Speaker Mocks U.S. Naval Blockade. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 01, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

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DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But the reality is when you look at who is leading this country -- that's Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president of Maduro -- and a lot of ministers have remained the same, leadership hasn't really changed all that much. The system, in and of itself, is still in place.

And so it puts things in the question of well then, what needs to change first? And I think a lot of folks will obviously want to see free and fair elections. That's certainly something that's come out of the U.S. as one of the demands that they want to see eventually but there's not been a timeline necessarily put on that. Why? Well, most want to see the economic changes. The economy is dire and basic needs are increasingly hard to get, and so they want that stabilized first before they feel like they can move forward as a country.

Being on that flight though you did get a sense of just how historic it was. And even before you boarded, we entered Miami International Airport, and they had a dedicated check-in line for this resumption of direct service and it had yellow, blue, red -- the colors of Venezuela's flag. You saw that everywhere, even as I walked up to the TSA agent, they had to do a doubletake and she said, "Caracas?" realizing oh, we're resuming flights once again.

Boarding the plane, you had really a rollout of joy and music, food, coffee. They wanted people to feel the excitement that certainly the administration in the U.S. -- the Trump administration, in particular -- believes is in place. They say now Venezuela is open for business.

And if that is the case and they're able to continue to flow forward with business reopening -- businesses, of course, have to feel confident that as they invest here that stability will sustain -- then they believe that will trickle down to enhancing the economy here, thereby stabilizing some of the larger concerns when it comes to affording things and that eventually leading into those elections.

David Culver, CNN, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: And Donald Trump has made clear that he's no fan of Fed chairman Jerome Powell. Ahead on EARLY START, what the president is saying about Powell's plan to stick around the central bank after his leadership term ends.

Plus, Elon Musk wrapping up three days of testimony in his lawsuit against OpenAI. Ahead, details on some testy exchanges with opposing lawyers and even the judge.

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[05:32:00]

ABEL: Welcome back to EARLY START. This is your business breakout.

And here is where U.S. stock futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street. The Dow and the S& 500 both up, but the Nasdaq starting the day in the red.

Let's check on some of today's business headlines now.

The Iran war is raising the concerns of central banks in Europe. The Bank of England says it's keeping its benchmark interest rate steady at 3.75 percent for now. It warns borrowing costs could rise if the increase in energy prices continues. And the European central bank is holding its rate at two percent but warns the longer the war continues the greater the risk of increased inflation and weakened economic growth.

President Trump says he doesn't care if Jerome Powell stays on with the Federal Reserve after his term as chairman ends on May 15. Powell is eligible to serve as a central bank governor until 2028, and he says he does plan to stick around for an undetermined period of time. Kevin Warsh, Trump's pick to replace Powell as chair, needs to be confirmed by the Senate to take over the job.

Apple's second-quarter earnings exceeding expectations with $111.2 billion in revenue. CEO Tim Cook cited extraordinary demand for the iPhone 17 lineup. Cook is planning to step down as CEO in September. Incoming CEO John Ternus says he's optimistic about the products and services that are in the pipeline.

The judge in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI admonished the tech billionaire during his third day of testimony. Musk has accused OpenAI of unjustly transitioning into a profit-seeking company, but OpenAI says Musk is just trying to take down a rival AI company.

CNN's Hadas Gold has more from outside the courthouse.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: Elon Musk wrapped up about eight hours' worth of testimony in his big trial against OpenAI, at times clashing with attorneys and even getting admonished a bit by the judge in this massive trial that if Elon Musk gets his way could completely change the AI landscape and completely scramble ChatGPT maker OpenAI's plans, especially as they plan to launch an IPO later this year.

Elon Musk was questioned by both OpenAI's attorneys and his own, each trying to paint their own picture of what happened when OpenAI, which initially started as a nonprofit, then evolved into having a for- profit subsidiary.

Elon Musk's attorneys tried to argue in their questioning with him that Elon Musk was deceived when he donated about $38 million to help found OpenAI and that they changed the structure under his nose, and that he was not aware of all of the plans to change OpenAI to have a for-profit subsidiary and to be able to make as much money as possible. OpenAI, of course, is now one of the most valuable AI companies out there.

OpenAI's attorneys tried to prove that Elon Musk knew about and was always himself actually pushing for some sort of for-profit structure in order to be able to make more money and compete with the likes of Google, pointing out in evidence and emails that at one point he even directed his assistants to register for a for-profit corporation in OpenAI's name.

[05:40:08]

Their argument is that Elon Musk is only bringing this trial because he wants to bring down a competitor because he has his own company xAI and that he left OpenAI -- left their board because he wasn't able to gain full control of the company after feeling resistance from the other co-founders.

There were also some fireworks today in court between Elon Musk and OpenAI's attorneys. Elon Musk had been accusing OpenAI's attorneys of trying to trick him and not ask -- and asking tricky questions.

And at one point he even accused OpenAI's attorney of asking leading questions. The judge stopped him and said, "Mr. Musk, you are not an attorney." And Musk answered, "Well, I took a law 101 class." But she cut him off there.

I don't think that Elon Musk is used to being talked to this way but in a court of justice everyone is the same and the judge is obviously the ultimate decider in this case as the jury considers and will give their verdict on an advisory basis to the judge who then could decide on those remedies that include everything from $130 billion that could potentially be paid back to OpenAI's nonprofit to OpenAI having to revert back entirely to a nonprofit to Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, the leaders of OpenAI, even losing their jobs.

Elon Musk's testimony has wrapped up for now and we are expecting to hear from other big names in the tech world, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and, of course, OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman.

Hadas Gold, CNN, Oakland, California.

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ABEL: President Trump says Iran's economy is crashing thanks to the U.S. naval blockade. Just ahead, we are live in the region with the latest developments.

Plus, what King Charles is doing next after wrapping up an eventful four-day visit with Queen Camilla in the U.S.

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[05:41:17]

ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel. Here are some stories we are watching today.

The suspect in the latest attack on London's Jewish community is facing attempted murder charges. Police identifying him as 45-year-old Essa Suleiman, and they say he'll appear in court today. Two Jewish men were stabbed on -- and wounded on Wednesday prompting Britain to raise its terrorism threat level.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah are exchanging new strikes despite an extension of the ceasefire in Lebanon. The country's Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed at least 16 people over the past 24 hours. Hezbollah says it carried out drone strikes on Israeli soldiers with the IDF reporting several injuries.

Donald Trump says Iran is dying to make a deal to end the war but only he and a few other people know the true status of peace talks. The U.S. president went on to say that nobody knows for sure who Iran's leaders are and the country's economy is crashing because of the U.S. naval blockade.

Joining me now from Cairo, H.A. Hellyer, a senior associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies, to talk about all of this. H.A., thank you for your time.

So we are still waiting for this revised proposal from Iran. Meanwhile, the country continues to taunt the United States and its blockade tactics.

What do you make of the current posture by Iran, and what does that tell you about their negotiating stance?

H.A. HELLYER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE FELLOW, RUSI: Thank you so much, Brian. Always a pleasure to be on your show.

I think the Iranians really haven't changed their stance since the beginning of this war. I think that they recognized very early on that this was an existential threat. That there were forces looking to not simply cause the defeat of Iran in this particular battle but actually bring down the regime.

And, of course, the United States has gone back and forth on this particular point so it's difficult to say where they are on that particular aim. But, of course, the Israelis have made it no secret that they want to topple the actual regime. They don't simply want a tactical victory here or there.

As a result, the Iranians are treating this like an existential war, and they would rather go down fighting than compromise. And I think the biggest mismatch in the negotiations at present is not simply about the distance or the gap between Washington and Tehran when it comes to actual demands, but it's also the assessment from Washington of what sort of regime in Tehran they're actually dealing with.

Too many in Washington -- too many in the Trump administration seem to think that if they could go for massive shock and awe tactics that the Iranians would buckle, fold, and they'd come to an arrangement in the same way that they did with the Venezuelans. It was never going to be like that. It was always going to be like this. It was very predictable that it would be like this.

And unfortunately, that mismatch has led us to the point where the Iranians took the Strait of Hormuz basically offline and now you have this counter blockade and you have these two different actors -- two sides in this war really looking for maximalist conclusions. And because neither of them will budge I think we're in for a longer conflict in this regard.

ABEL: Well, let's talk a little bit more about that. Iran's defiance amplified by the ayatollah on Thursday declaring Iran's gains in the region, including the Strait of Hormuz, irreversible facts and saying the U.S. has no place in the region except the depths of the Persian Gulf's waters.

All the while, President Trump is receiving briefings on next military options, including how to break that bottleneck in the strait.

[05:50:00]

What could those options include, and how rooted in reality is the supreme leader's outlook?

HELLYER: So if you allow me, I'll address the second point first because I think that the idea that the war is going to lead to a withdrawal of American forces in the region is really quite fanciful.

On the contrary, I think most of if not all of the Gulf countries in the region are going to double down on their connections to the United States. They will see the United States not necessarily as having been the best ally because, of course, they started the war in the region of the Gulf without really taking into account Gulf preferences. The Gulf pretty much, by and large, lobbied against this war.

But they still think that the Iranians are a tremendous threat because, of course, Iran didn't retaliate against the United States in the American homeland. The retaliated against Gulf countries -- every Gulf country irrespective of whether or not they could show evidence that strikes had been initiated from there.

So I don't think that any of those countries are going to say oh, OK, it was a bad idea to have a connection to American regional security architecture. On the contrary. I think they'll double down.

Now when it comes to the options, again, this is something that's, you know, structurally very difficult within Washington right now. I don't think that you have the Trump administration listening to the experts in the room, if they're even in the room, that really know Iran.

And this is new, OK? I don't think this was the case in the first Trump administration. I don't think it was the case in any other American administration until this one where there's been such a centralization of decision-making without input from the necessary agencies. You could imagine a White House thinking that they could move from a Venezuela option -- that they could move and there wouldn't be the taking of the Strait of Hormuz.

So all of the options that are on the table right now. It's still structurally very difficult for them to be evaluated if they don't have that expertise in the room and it's being listened to.

ABEL: And I'd love to explore that dynamic a little bit more, but we unfortunately are out of time for now. So H.A. Hellyer --

HELLYER: Next time.

ABEL: -- in Cairo, thank you very much as always.

King Charles is now in Bermuda for a solo tour packed with several events. In the coming hours he is set to attend cultural events, a Coast Guard briefing, and speak with Bermuda's prime -- premier, rather.

On Thursday, he and Queen Camilla ended a four-day state visit to the U.S. At the White House, President Trump called the British royal a "great king." Afterwards, the king and queen visited Arlington National Cemetery where the king laid a wreath and paid respects to fallen service members. Then the royal couple greeted people at a block party in suburban Virginia. The event was hosted by an organization coordinating the commemoration of America's 250th birthday.

Donald Trump Jr. could be the next one saying the catchphrase "you're fired." Coming up, what his dad thinks about that possibility of him being in "THE APPRENTICE" reboot with his son as host.

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[05:57:45]

ABEL: Pop singer Britney Spears scheduled to be arraigned in a California court on Monday. Spears was charged on Thursday with one count of driving under the influence of alcohol and at least one drug. In early March she was pulled over on a California highway for speeding and driving erratically. State Police arrested her after she took field sobriety tests.

Spears voluntarily checked into a substance abuse treatment facility a month later and because she's getting treatment and has no history of DUI, prosecutors say they'll offer Spears a chance to plead guilty and get a year of probation.

Could "THE APPRENTICE" be making a comeback? The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon Prime is looking to bring back President Trump's reality TV show from the early 2000s, this time with Donald Trump Jr. as the host.

Here's what the president said about it earlier.

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REPORTER: What is your take on these reports that your show "THE APPRENTICE" is going to come back -- could come back on Amazon with host Donald Trump Jr.?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I've been hearing it. Look, we had a great success -- 14 seasons -- and "THE APPRENTICE" was a tremendous success. So I've been hearing that, yeah, a little bit, so we'll see what happens. He's good -- he's a good guy. He'd be probably good. He's got charisma going. You need a little charisma for that sucker, so we'll see what happens. Yeah, they told me about it. We'll see.

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ABEL: Now despite the talk, Amazon has said a possible "APPRENTICE" reboot with Donald Trump Jr. is not in active development. The company added that any details about the show are purely speculative.

And meet Chonkers. He is a giant sea lion that's causing quite the stir in San Francisco. Crowds have flocked to the pier just to try to catch a glimpse of this massive animal. He is one of at least two unusually large sea lions spotted this month among the smaller ones in the area.

The nearby aquarium says Chonkers, aptly named, isn't even fully grown yet if you can believe it. He could pack on a few hundred more pounds to weigh closer to 1,200 pounds.

Visitors say even though he's big, he seems friendly.

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MIKE TORRES, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: He looks, I don't like, like huggable. It's a dangerous huggable. But like, you know, he looks like a -- like a Santa Claus version of a seal.

LAURIE BRANDEN, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: I think when we can get in touch with nature something gets activated and let go in us. So coming here and leaving a few of your cares here seems to appeal to me and a lot of other people because they are here and they want to see the dude.

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ABEL: Experts say Chonkers likely chose this spot because of the abundance of fish in the water.

And that does it for us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.