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CNN Headline: Indiana Primaries: Voters Opt For Trump-Backed Challengers; Trump To Pause Effort To Guide Ships Through Hormuz; Iranian State Media: Tehran Touts Pause Of "Project Freedom" As "U.S. Failure"; Trump Says High Oil, Gas Prices Are "Very Small Price To Pay" For Iran Change; Seven Candidates For California Governor Clash On Debate Stage. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired May 06, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:25]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: We saw a clear of the grip President Trump has on the Republican Party, and it just played out in Indiana. Details there.
Plus, a dangerous manhunt is on. A suspect is a man with extensive army survival training, and he's accused of attempted murder. What you need to know coming your way.
And --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's trying to run. Oh. Oh my god!
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SMITH: Shocking video. A woman chasing a child while in her car. She even drives up onto a sidewalk. We've got the story behind that wild scene.
And I bet you never thought you'd hear this in 2026. New music from the Rolling Stones. Bring it on. Add it to my playlist.
Good morning, everyone. Happy Wednesday. I'm Brad Smith. This is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Let's jump right in.
President Donald Trump wanted revenge in Indiana. And last night, he got it. Republicans voted in at least five of the seven ump backed candidates, picking the challengers over the incumbents who to broke with Trump's redistricting plans last year.
Now in bellwether Ohio, voters picked Republican Vivek Ramaswamy to face off against Democrat Amy Acton in the race to replace the outgoing Republican governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVEK RAMASWAMY (R), OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Today, it is our pleasure to become the Republican nominee for the governor of Ohio. So thank you guys for getting us to this point. Now, the real destination is in November, but I do want to take a moment to thank the people who got us to where we are, including the folks in this room.
AMY ACTON (D), OHIO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We are seeing a people powered grassroots campaign of Ohioans who all believe it's time for a change. We're seeing record numbers of people everywhere we go in this state. It does not know party and everyone is ready for us to turn this around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Up next, all eyes are on Kentucky's May 19th primary. That's when Republican Congressman Thomas Massie will face off against a Trump-endorsed challenger.
Project Freedom halted. President Trump has announced that the U.S. will pause all efforts to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz due to what he says is progress in diplomatic talks with Iran. Tehran has effectively blockaded the key waterway since the U.S. and Israel launched the war more than two months ago. Iranian state media celebrated the move, describing it as Trump backs down.
Meanwhile, Washington's top diplomat saying combat operations against Tehran have concluded. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists that Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz should not be normalized and that the waterway should operate as it did before the war.
CNN's Kristen Holmes has the story.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a rare press briefing from the White House today, and most notably, he definitively said that Epic Fury, the combat operation launched in February in Iran, was over.
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The operation is over. Epic Fury is, as president notified Congress, we're done with that stage of it. Okay, we're now on to this Project of Freedom.
HOLMES (voice-over): Rubio also said that the military action that we've seen since the ceasefire in Iran was a defensive operation.
RUBIO: This is a defensive operation. And what that means is very simple. There's no shooting unless were shot at, first.
HOLMES (voice-over): Secretary Rubio said the diplomacy is still the goal and that any kind of conversations or questions about Iran's nuclear program, including that stockpile of enriched uranium, were going to be handled through negotiations. Now, the secretary also downplayed high gas prices.
RUBIO: If Iran had a nuclear weapon and they decided to close the straits and make our gas prices like $9 a gallon or $8 a gallon, we wouldn't be able to do anything about it because they have a nuclear weapon and a nuclear armed Iran could do whatever the hell they want with the straits, and there's nothing anyone would be able to do about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: Now, back in Washington, President Trump says the war with Iran, especially making sure the country doesn't get a nuclear weapon, is, quote, "a very small price to pay" for today's gas prices.
And how are they? Well, they're pretty high. AAA says that the price of regular unleaded nationwide now tops $4.53 a gallon. The president says that he thought it would actually be a lot worse by right now. Take a listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I also thought oil would go up to 200, 250, maybe 300, and I knew it would be short term, but I thought it would go -- I looked today, it's like at 102.
[05:05:05]
And that's a very small price to pay for getting rid of a nuclear weapon from people that are really mentally deranged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: So not as bad as it could be from the president's stance.
Now, meantime, Kentucky's Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, is partially freezing the state's gas tax to give drivers a break. AAA says the average cost of gas in Kentucky is $4.28 a gallon. That's up significantly from last week. Republican governors in Georgia and Indiana also recently enacted so-called gas tax holidays to help drivers in their states.
Well, this morning, a manhunt is underway for a Special Forces veteran accused of shooting his wife. The Stewart County sheriff's office says that Craig Berry disappeared into the woods in Tennessee, and they believe that this blurry photo shows the 53-year-old in camouflage fleeing the scene. Police say that the retired soldier is armed with at least one handgun and ammunition, and they say that he's been on the run since Friday morning after they responded to the 911 call from his injured wife.
The shooting happened in Dover. That's near the Kentucky border. And now several agencies are assisting in the manhunt and what they describe as rough terrain. They say that the suspect is very skilled in outdoor survival tactics after being deployed to Iraq four times. A warrant has been issued for Berry, accusing him of second degree attempted murder. Berry's wife told authorities that he hit her in the head several times during an argument, and attempted to strangle her before shooting her in the neck. The sheriff says that she has since been released from the hospital.
Well, today, three passengers are expected to get off that cruise ship hit by a suspected Hantavirus outbreak, including a doctor in serious condition. They plan to use two air ambulances to help get the passengers to the Netherlands. But now there's a fight over where the rest of the nearly 150 people on board will go, including 17 Americans.
The MV Hondius is expected to leave for Spain's Canary Islands so that passengers could be assessed by medical personnel. But the leader there says that they're not welcome and asked for an urgent meeting with the Spanish prime minister.
Right now, the ship is anchored near the island of Cape Verde. That's off of Africa's west coast. At least seven Hantavirus cases have been identified so far, including the three people who died. The WHO is not ruling out possible human to human transmission, but cautions that the virus does not spread easily. Strict isolation measures, masking and health monitoring are in place on the ship.
No need to adjust your screen here. That is inches of snow on the ground in May. This video is from the Colorado Mountains. Some areas there have already seen a foot of snow. And while Colorado deals with the May snow, some of you who live in the South will be on severe weather watch for most of the day.
Let's get right to meteorologist Chris Warren.
Chris -- all right. So it sounds like rain jackets in some areas, and then breaking back out the parkas if you're in that snow-ridden Colorado.
CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. And some of that snow, Brad, not just in the mountains, but in Denver and Cheyenne as well. So that's the stories we're looking at today, snow and storms, severe storms, possibly tornadoes.
We begin with the snow and it is snowing right now all the way over to West Kansas. So the plains in Colorado into Kansas, snow is falling at the moment. Winter storm warnings in effect through this evening from Denver to Cheyenne. And the snowfall that's going to accumulate additional snow a few inches down below, several inches up above in the mountains.
And then the severe weather threat for the south developing throughout the day and increasing in the afternoon, large hail, damaging winds, a few tornadoes possible as well from Waco all the way over to Atlanta. The more likely area is going to be in here with storms that are going to pop up later on this afternoon into the evening.
And, Brad, the potential is there not just for tornadoes, possibly some strong tornadoes and some flooding as well.
SMITH: All right. Reasons why I leave an umbrella at the office. Chris, thanks so much.
Let's take you out to Hawaii and this amazing video that's also coming in of the Kilauea volcano erupting for the 46th time. You can see the lava fountains shooting into the sky. Officials say that some reached as high as 650 feet. Just remarkable visuals that we've continued to see from this Kilauea volcano over the past several months here.
Lots more to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, including this.
[05:10:03]
Overnight in New York, anti-Israel protesters take to the streets right outside of a synagogue. We've got the details there.
Plus, take a look at this. A woman that police say was drunk drives her car on a sidewalk, starts chasing a kid on a motorbike. We've got more on this crazy scene later on in the hour.
And --
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ELIZABETH SMART, AUTHOR: When I decided to do it, I did not think I would ever share it.
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SMITH: Elizabeth Smart, taken captive for nine months when she was just 14 talks to CNN about her empowering health journey. More on her transformation and new book later in the hour.
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[05:15:10]
SMITH: Seven candidates for California governor clashed on the debate stage Tuesday night in an event hosted by CNN. Here are some of the key takeaways as Democrats struggle to articulate what's going right in California. The words Donald Trump came up a lot.
As for the issues, it was the familiar ones -- immigration, gas prices, the cost of health care, a billionaires tax and the Trump agenda. Take a listen
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I'm going to repeat Donald Trump as often as I have to, because he's the real menace we have in California.
MAYOR MATT MAHAN (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's disqualifying that we have Republican candidates who are embracing Donald Trump's cruel and ineffective policies.
TOM STEYER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I started an organization in 2017 to impeach Donald Trump, because I've been in enough boardrooms to know a crook when I see one, and he is a crook.
BECERRA: If you've got a governor like Steve Hilton, who is his dad, Donald Trump is his daddy, and he will protect him all the way through.
KATIE PORTER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump sucks
STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The Democrats who are here, who've been responsible for 16 years of one party rule, for everything that we see in California, won't take responsibility. And all they can talk about is Trump.
It's not Donald Trump who has given us gas prices $2 higher than the rest of the country. Its Democrat policies, which Antonio and all the Democrats here support. It's not Donald Trump that's given us the highest housing costs in the country. It's Democrat policies that all these Democrats support.
Donald Trump is the president in all the other states of America, where the cost of living is way lower than in California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: California's primary is June 2nd. The top two vote getters will advance to the November general election, regardless of political party.
A federal grand jury has indicted the suspect charged with attempting to kill President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last month. We're continuing to track developments here as that indictment against Cole Thomas Allen included an extra charge of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon. Allen was also indicted for three other charges listed in the initial complaint.
Allen is accused of shooting a Secret Service officer after he ran past the security checkpoint at the gala. The officer survived, and Allen has not entered a plea. He's scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
Anti-Israel protesters clashed with police outside a historic synagogue in Manhattan. Some of the demonstrators tried to break through the NYPD barricade that extended for blocks around the Park East Synagogue. Police say no arrests were made.
Remarkable images coming out there.
Still to come on CNN headline express, a search underway to find at least four people that police say spray painted racist graffiti on synagogues and homes in New York. We've got the latest on that antisemitic attack, and it's been over a month since a Michigan woman went missing on a boat trip with her husband in the Bahamas. This morning, we have new developments in the case.
Stay with us.
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[05:22:38]
SMITH: "The New York Times" reports that the FDA officials blocked the publication of several studies that found COVID and shingles vaccines are safe. CNN previously reported that one of those studies, led by the CDC, found COVID vaccines roughly cut in half the odds. A U.S. adult would need an ER visit or hospitalization. That's according to two sources.
But sources say the current head of the CDC blocked the publication of those findings in a weekly report.
Idaho showed up in a big way for a little boy who recently got a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. Levi Hillius' mom went on social media to ask the community to surprise her son for his sixth birthday, and more than 1,000 people showed up for his drive by birthday celebration. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REPORTER: This is Levi. He's celebrating his sixth birthday with more than 1,000 people after his mom made this emotional appeal on TikTok.
ASHLIE HILLIUS, LEVI'S MOM: Yeah, its just a desperate plea from a mom who's trying to throw together a birthday party for her kid.
I thought that we would get maybe 20 moms, and it went viral, and our entire community showed up.
REPORTER: Levi's mom said he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2025 and recently underwent a bone marrow transplant surgery. He can't risk having a traditional celebration because he's immuno-compromised.
After the post went viral, the party turned out to be something more than the family expected.
HILLIUS: We had the fire department, neighboring police agencies, car groups, motorcycle groups, a hockey team, tractors, garbage and recycling trucks, and over 1,000 community members with their cute little signs screaming out the window, happy birthday.
CROWD: Happy birthday to you.
REPORTER: Levi's mom said they donated extra gifts that Levi received to other kids who are fighting cancer.
HILLIUS: I think that this healed a part of our family that we didn't know could be healed after such a long and devastating journey. He is still talking about it a week later. He thinks it's so cool and he's just over the moon. I don't think we're ever going to be able to top this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: A big happy birthday to Levi.
Straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, we've got this.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I want them to put my presidency in context, right? Of, I assume in my eulogy somewhere. It'll be mentioned he was the first African American president.
STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT HOST: I will say something about that.
OBAMA: But --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:25:01]
SMITH: Obama on the late show with Stephen Colbert talking presidential legacy and lasting impact.
And some taxpayer dollars may actually have to go towards President Trump's ballroom project. We'll explain on the other side of the break.
Stay with us. You're watching CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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SMITH: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. will temporarily Project.
