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The Story Is with Elex Michaelson

Gas Prices Jump As Trump Says Iran "Dying To Make A Deal"; Trump Defiant As Pentagon Outlines Military Options; Prosecutors: New Video Shows Suspect Running Past Security; U.K. Raises Terrorism Threat Level after Recent Attacks; Fed's Preferred Measure of Inflation Hits 3.5 percent in March; Congress Votes to Reopen Parts of DHS without ICE Funding; Some MAHA Supporters Say They Feel Betrayed by Trump Administration; Egyptian Mummy Unearthed with Literary Text on Abdomen. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired May 01, 2026 - 01:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Seven cents to 4.30 a gallon, the highest since July of 2022. The President, though, insists Iran is dying to make a deal to end this war as the U.S. naval blockade strangles Iran's economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:00:13]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iran is proving to be very stubborn. The talks seem like they are stalled. Are you getting antsy to break the ceasefire?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I mean, I don't know what stubborn is because really nobody knows what the talks are except myself and a couple of other people. They want to make a deal badly. And we have a problem because nobody knows for sure who the leaders are. It's a little bit of a problem, you know. The leaders have been wiped out along with their military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The U.S. is pressing foreign governments to join a new coalition to support freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Meantime, the speaker of Iran's parliament is mocking the U.S. naval blockade, saying the total length of his country's borders is longer than the distance from New York to L.A. and back again. And in a new written statement from Iran's still unseen supreme leader, he writes, foreign actors have no place in the Persian Gulf except, "In the depths of its waters."

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joining us now live from Hong Kong. So the President says the blockade is working. Are there any signs, though, that these two sides are closer to resuming talks?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, there is no end in sight to this conflict. We are two months into this war. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. Now we have the U.S. President, Donald Trump, looking for ways to try to force Iran to agree to a deal to curb its nuclear program. So the United States president is saying he is looking at all options, military options, along with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade on Iranian vessels and ports.

And as a result, we're seeing gas prices at the pump rise and rise in the United States. Let's bring up the data for you. And you can see just then the price, average price of gas at the pump of the United States is now reaching new highs. You know, it's now at $4.30 a gallon. Yesterday, it was at $4.23. In fact, that represented a very significant rise in just one day, the highest in weeks.

And on top of that, this is the highest price that we've seen since July of 2022. And compare that to where gas prices were before this conflict broke out on February 28th. They were at $2.98 a gallon.

Now, before the war, we were also looking at and we continue to look at the price of Brent crude. This is, of course, the global oil benchmark. It is not reaching those highs that we saw yesterday. It was a wartime high, but still remains quite elevated at 105.25, right there you see on the screen. There is deepening concern about this ongoing conflict and what it means for ongoing supply disruptions for the global energy supply.

In fact, we heard from one analyst with IG who pointed out this. His name is Tony Sycamore. "Prospects for any near-term resolution to the Iran conflict or a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remain dim." And Iran is defiant. We heard from Iran's supreme leader in the form of a written statement. No audio was provided. No video was provided. But in this statement that was delivered on Persian Gulf Day, he hailed Iran's newfound gains and asserted control over the Strait of Hormuz.

What you're looking at there is a statement not from the supreme leader, but from Iran's parliament speaker, who amplified what we heard from the supreme leader, saying, "Today as well, Iran by exercising control over the Strait of Hormuz, will ensure that it and its neighbors enjoy the precious blessing of a future free from the presence and interference of America. Defiant words there.

Anarchists should add that shipping across the Strait of Hormuz remains but a trickle in the last 24 hours or so. We clocked just at least seven ships making that transit, making that crossing, that very critical waterway. Erica?

HILL: Kristie Lou Stout, appreciate it. Thank you.

Democrats, meantime, and even some Republicans are venting their frustrations over the war with Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a meeting with senators on Thursday to ask for more funding. The hearing, though, really devolved into a number of arguments about Hegseth's handling of the conflict and also unanswered questions about where the money is going. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly pressing Hegseth on the cost and also the timeline when it comes to replacing damaged military equipment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Can you tell us how many years specifically is it going to take to replace these systems?

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: What this budget does. I mean, months and years, fast, years. I mean, we're building new plants in real time.

KELLY: So just to replace what we have expended.

HEGSETH: Two X, I said months.

KELLY: And then you said years.

HEGSETH: It depends on the weapon system. But two to three, four X of what we have today.

KELLY: So we fired years --

HEGSETH: -- rapidly, quickly.

KELLY: -- worth of munitions. And it is clear that we're -- these are being expended to try to achieve some objectives. That was the plan. But, Mr. Secretary, this war is stuck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:05:10]

HILL: Joining me now, retired U.S. Air Force colonel, senior military analyst Cedric Leighton. Colonel, always good to talk to you. There have been no shortage of fiery moments the last two days on Capitol Hill as Secretary Hegseth has faced questions from lawmakers, excuse me. When we look at where things stand in this moment, how concerned are you about the readiness of the U.S. military? Should there be another conflict that arises or should this drag on for even longer?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Erica, I'm very concerned about it, actually. You know, in the old days, back in the Cold War period, we actually had a two and a half war scenario built into the defense plans that the United States had. So, in other words, what that meant was you would fight, be able to fight, you'd have the resources to fight two major conflicts simultaneously, plus a contingency operation, a major contingency operation. So that was the idea back in those days.

Now we've basically gone to a, we can only fight one major war type scenario. And that is sometimes questionable, especially given the state of the defense industrial base, which has a hard time producing the weapon systems that we need, such as the Patriot missile system or the THAAD missile system and, you know, some of the other pieces that we use for defensive operations. And then, of course, the Tomahawk missiles as well, which are an offensive weapon. So those are the areas where, yes, there's a bit of a concern there.

And that concern is based on the fact that we need to be able to produce more of these weapons, which are extremely good, extremely effective, and have them ready in case there are more than one major contingency that we have to deal with. HILL: So as we have that scenario, right, that is playing out in this moment, the President, as we know, was briefed on some potential options earlier tonight. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was on with Erin Burnett earlier tonight, and he talked specifically about ground troops and what he believed could be imminent. Take a listen to some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I do have the impression from some of the briefings that I have received, as well as other sources, that an imminent military strike is very much on the table, which is deeply disturbing because it could well involve American sons and daughters in harm's way and potential massive casualties. I can't be more specific because I received at least one of these briefings, several of them in classified settings. But I'm not saying with any certainty as to when it would happen, but very much on the table as a potential plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Now, he noted this has been on the table before, but the fact, Colonel, that he used the word imminent, reading between the lines there, right, he's careful about what he can say because of information coming from a classified briefing. Where do you believe things stand?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think what's happening, Erica, is that there are several possible plans being brought before the president and the National Security Council. And what that means is that there are several things being thought about. You know, one of them could involve, or maybe more than one, could involve the use of ground forces for a specific operation, such as the takeover, potential takeover of, let's say, Kharg Island, or another potential would be the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, using ground forces in addition to naval forces and air power to affect that. So those are all possible contingency operations.

Whether or not they actually happen is a different story. But what that means, you know, what Senator Blumenthal is basically alluding to is the idea that this could very well be in our future because the administration perceives that the Iranians are going to be intransigent when it comes to negotiations. And whether or not that's the case, that's how it's going to be perceived.

And as a result, then the action would be, or the reaction here would be to use potentially the military force, and that military force could include ground forces. That military force would be, of course, to break that logjam or that perceived logjam in the negotiations.

HILL: For us, Maqsad, who is part of the Eurasia group, told my colleague Becky Anderson that the current focus, right, when we look at the talks and what many people are hoping to see in terms of the U.S. and Iran getting back to the table, that the focus of these talks is actually sidelining some of the other threats from Iran. So noting specifically, there doesn't seem to be a lot of talk about a cap on ballistic missiles or Iran's support for proxies in the region. Would you agree that those key points are being sidelined in this moment? And if so, what kind of pressure does that support for proxies in the region?

[01:10:13]

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think that's a very possible scenario. And in addition to the ballistic missiles and the proxy forces that you mentioned, I would add cyber as being another weapons area that the weapons domain, I guess, better said, that the Iranians would use. So, you know, between those three, I think it's very possible that the Iranians would try to exert some strength, there were some movement. And, you know, let's say, take the ballistic missiles, for instance, Israel, when this war first started, Israel was very concerned about the ballistic missiles. One of the war aims seemed to be to get rid of Iran's ballistic missiles.

That's proven to be a bit harder than initially thought. And that is something that could very well come to the fore, because Iran is not going to voluntarily give up any form of leverage that it has. And that form of leverage in this particular case would be ballistic missiles that could threaten not only the Gulf States, the Arab Gulf States, but Israel as well.

So that's one area where the Iranians would definitely want to keep that power. And it's unlikely because of the lack of focus on that area and those other areas that we've talked about. It's unlikely that those would be part of a major agreement between, let's say, the U.S. and Iran.

HILL: Yes. Colonel Cedric Leighton, always appreciate it. Thank you.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Erica. Thank you.

HILL: The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah is now being tested again with reports of deadly new strikes. Lebanon's health ministry says Israel launched attacks into several towns in southern Lebanon, killing at least 14 people. In response, Hezbollah said it carried out drone strikes on Israeli soldiers, with the IDF reporting several injuries. Meantime, a funeral was held in Tyre for three rescuers killed by an Israeli strike on Tuesday. Lebanese officials say they were killed in a double tap strike while helping the wounded.

Federal prosecutors releasing new footage Thursday of the moments before the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. They say this video, which we're about to show you, so it shows the alleged suspect walking through the hallway and they say casing the hotel prior to the shooting. Prosecutors then released another video, which shows the alleged attacker rushing down the hallway with a shotgun, running past a security checkpoint. He was arrested before making it to the press dinner, which was being held on a different floor. That's where President Trump and other administration officials, of course, were in that ballroom. CNN Evan Perez has the very latest for us from Washington. EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The Justice Department released new video, surveillance video from the Washington Hilton on the night of the of the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. It shows in great detail for the first time some of the events as the alleged shooter, Cole Allen, makes his way charging through the magnetometers area and fires a shot according to prosecutors and makes his way before he is finally detained.

Now, in the slowed down version of video, prosecutors have highlighted with some circles a couple of things. The first one you see is an interaction or it appears to be an interaction at the top left of the video where Cole Allen is about to enter. There's a canine officer who appears to stop and pauses for some time with the dog minutes or sorry, seconds before Cole Allen makes his way in there.

According to prosecutors, he takes off a black coat and runs through and begins firing with a shotgun. The video continues to show what appears to be the shot from Cole Allen. That's the large circle that you see there. And then you see four of the five shots that the Secret Service officer responds in return -- returning fire to the suspect as he is running through the area.

Now, the video that was released by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia also highlights a couple of things from Saturday when the alleged shooter is alleged to have done some casing before the event. He appears to have walked through one of the hallways, goes into the gymnasium of the hotel and then makes an exit. He appears to have some kind of interaction with a hotel employee during that walkthrough.

Prosecutors say that he had been preparing for this attack for more than a month. And that he appeared to have studied the layout of the hotel. He was watching video of the President of the United States arriving at the Hilton that night. And then he carries out this attack. Now, one of the things that we learned on Thursday from the court hearing was supposed to be a detention hearing for Cole Allen.

[01:15:03]

The defense ended up not contesting detention and that prevented prosecutors from really making a presentation of some of this evidence. In the end, what happened here is that the U.S. Attorney released it on X later in the day. Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

HILL: Britain's Jewish community is on edge after being the target of multiple attacks. Ahead here, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is talking about his next move as Britain raises its terror threat level and the outrage grows.

Plus, if you feel like you are paying more at the store, well, you are. We'll take a closer look at the very latest inflation data, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:20:09] HILL: King Charles and Queen Camilla wrapping up their four-day state visit to the U.S. President Trump calling the British royal a great king as he said farewell to them on Thursday in Washington. The King and Queen also spending part of their Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery where they laid a wreath and paid respects to fallen service members. The royal couple also greeting a block party in Fort Royal, Virginia. An event hosted by America 250. An organization coordinating the commemoration of America's 250th birthday and of course defeat over England. King Charles has now stopped in Bermuda for a solo tour.

For the first time in nearly seven years commercial flights from the U.S. to Venezuela have now resumed. Marking a significant moment for the country as it begins to restore economic relations with the U.S. following the removal of its former president, Nicolas Maduro. CNN's David Culver has more now from Caracas after he traveled aboard that first flight from Miami.

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Our travels getting here to Caracas in of themselves historic. That according to the officials both U.S. and Venezuela as well as representatives from American Airlines who decided to resume after a nearly seven year pause a direct flight between the U.S. and Venezuela leaving out of Miami. Not surprising given the vast majority of Venezuelans who live in the U.S. live in Miami-Dade County.

And so the idea is in the days, months, years to come the demand for those folks who are in the U.S. to travel here to Venezuela and vice versa is going to increase. That's the belief as the dynamic between these two countries has changed drastically since the January 3rd capture of Nicolas Maduro and so too has the sentiment. I mean candidly you seem to find folks who are a bit more at ease in the sense of hoping that there's progress being made. But the reality is when you look at who's leading this country and it's Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president of Maduro, and a lot of the ministers have remained the same. Leadership hasn't really changed all that much.

The system in 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. 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 double take 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'll trickle down to enhancing the economy here thereby stabilizing some of the larger concerns when it comes to affording things and then eventually leading into those elections.

David Culver, CNN, Caracas.

HILL: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is promising more police, more security in Jewish communities following a string of attacks that have raised understandably alarm and this comes of course just one day after two Jewish men were seriously wounded in a stabbing attack in North London. The government says it plans to set aside another $34 million for security in Jewish communities specifically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: People are scared, scared to show who they are in their community, scared to go to synagogue and practice their religion, scared to go to university as a Jew, to send their children to school as a Jew, to tell their colleagues that they are Jewish, even to use our NHS. Nobody should live like that in Britain but Jews do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:25:12]

HILL: Now also on Thursday, Britain raised its international terrorism level to severe which is the second highest level. It also means they believe an attack is highly likely in the next six months. Michael Rowe joins us now from London, he's chair of the Young National Jewish Assembly. Michael, it's good to have you with us this hour. We just heard those comments there from the Prime Minister talking about how scared people are. How do you feel in this moment?

MICHAEL ROWE, CHAIR, YOUNG NATIONAL JEWISH ASSEMBLY: Good morning from the United Kingdom, thank you for having me on. This is an extremely worrying time for British Jews in the U.K. We are facing unfortunately a massive rise in violent attacks. We've seen over the last few weeks not just yesterday's stabbing incident but also a variety of arson attacks on synagogues and other Jewish sites. And many Jews are really starting to question whether they are safe in the U.K. on the streets of Britain. It's extremely concerning for all of us.

So we're calling on the government to take firm action. We see after every incident that there's more platitudes, that the government puts out further statements and everyone tries to invest more money in stopping these attacks happening. But the way to do that is prevention, is to tackle the ideology at the root cause of this violence, which is extremist Islamism, which we're seeing on the rise of the streets in the UK.

And so we're really calling on the government to take firm action to combat that. That includes prescribing the IRGC, the Iranian regime, the violent anti-Semitic racist Iranian regime, which we see is perpetrating terror across the world. We're calling on our government to urgently prescribe them and the Muslim Brotherhood.

In fact, the organization which I'm representing, the National Jewish Assembly, has been running a campaign to do just that. We've been engaging with senior politicians and held a briefing in the House of Lords. But now is the time to take that action and to ensure that Jews really feel safe on the streets of the U.K., which at the moment unfortunately we don't.

HILL: How effective do you believe that action can be and how quickly do you think it can have an impact? As you noted, the platitudes, even this pledge of the equivalent of $34 million, it seems like that is falling flat when it comes to the promises in your eyes.

ROWE: Well, obviously we appreciate all extra funding and the police have been extremely good at supporting the Jewish community, extremely quick to respond. We've seen a very big police presence outside of Jewish sites, which is of course appreciated because when we see the authorities standing up for us, it does give us confidence in the U.K. taking action to protect the important Jewish community that's there.

But this is not an overnight solution. This can't be solved quickly. It's a systematic problem, which is that anti-Semitism, racism has been tolerated in the U.K. and across the world for far too long. We've seen that in our education system, we've seen that in our health service, we've seen that with the hate marches which have taken place on the streets of London for over two years, which have been essentially calling for this type of violence to take place. Slogans have been accepted such as globalize the intifada. That slogan is calling for the exact violence that we are seeing repeatedly on the streets of Britain.

And so the way to tackle it is to take a firm stance against these type of things. But as I say to you, unfortunately that's not an overnight solution, and we have to tackle the root cause of the ideology which is perpetrating these attacks.

HILL: Yes, and we have to continue to talk about it. We only have about 30 seconds left, but I know you've said anti-Semitism, the rise that we're seeing in anti-Semitism, this does not just impact the Jewish community. There is a broader ripple effect. Just walk us through that very quickly.

ROWE: That is of course correct. Once we see attacks on Jews, it doesn't end with Jews. We see that anti-Semitism is a form of racism and racism will continue to affect all communities in the U.K. I'm very glad to say that we have support from so many different groups across the U.K. who are in regular contact with us, expressing their sympathies and support for the U.K. Jewish community. But people, ordinary people, non-Jewish people in the U.K. have to start to accept that if they don't work to tackle anti-Semitism, then unfortunately the same racism which is currently targeting Jews will only come on to target other communities shortly. And so firm action must be taken and that must happen as soon as possible, because unfortunately, these attacks are becoming ever more frequent and they must be stopped. We must go back to the tolerant, freedom loving United Kingdom which we are all used to and which we all are living in and appreciate living in.

[01:30:04]

HILL: Yes. Michael Rowe, appreciate you taking the time to join us. Thank you.

ROWE: Thank you.

HILL: Well, as we continue to follow the fallout from the war with Iran, you are likely seeing it directly at the gas pump. Those prices on the rise again, jumping 7 cents in just one day, now at their highest level in nearly four years.

We'll take a closer look ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:34:46]

HILL: Welcome back to THE STORY IS. I'm Erica Hill.

Let's get a look at some of the top stories.

Prosecutors are releasing new footage of the moments before the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. They say this video, which we're about to show you, shows the alleged gunman rushing down the hallway with a shotgun running past the security checkpoint.

He did, of course, not make it into the dinner that was being held on a different floor in the ballroom, where President Trump and other administration officials were dining.

Amid growing pressure, the Texas girls' camp where 27 children and counselors were killed in flooding last July is now dropping its plans to reopen this summer.

Camp Mystic had hoped to have the facility back in operation. Victims' families though, said it was just too soon and also questioned whether the camp could ensure everyone's safety.

President Trump says the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports is choking the country's economy, and that Tehran is dying to make a deal. Pentagon officials briefed the president late Thursday on updated military plans, although he says he does not see the need to resume bombing Iran right now.

A strong Thursday there on Wall Street. As you can see, all three major indices closing in the green. Also up on Thursday, The price you pay at the pump, that's the one you don't want to see increased.

AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular gas in the U.S. is now $4.30. And look at that -- it's up 7 cents since just Wednesday.

And of course, it just continues the trend that we have seen since the war started with Iran. The president though, asked about gas prices, does not seem overly concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The gas will go down. As soon as the war is over, it will drop like a rock. There's so much of it. It's all over the place, sitting all over the oceans of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: It is important to note it's not expected to drop like a rock, although hopefully it will go down when that war does eventually end.

Meantime, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge just hit its highest level in nearly three years. This even after new government data shows that the U.S. Economy grew in the first quarter of the year.

Here to help us break this down, Ryan Patel is a senior fellow at Claremont Graduate University's Drucker School of Management.

First of all, help us square that. We have the inflation numbers, right? And then we also have the economy growing. How do these two things operate at the same time like this?

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: Well, I mean there's a couple of things, right? The inflation is rising again and it's really kind of a reacceleration due to the energy prices.

And to be clear, yes the GDP growth -- resilient and growing. But it did not meet expectations of the estimates. So it was a little bit down on what people were expecting it to be.

So not a bad space to be. But with energy pricing pushing inflation to reaccelerate, not to say that it's going to where close to 3 percent, that slows it down a little bit and that kind of dampens the mood as well.

HILL: We're looking at pictures here of gas prices, which especially in California where you are, I don't have to tell you how high they are.

But the gas prices, right, and what people are feeling every time they go to the grocery store, when they go to pay their bills, that is so different than what we see on Wall Street, where we're seeing these, you know, incredible gains for stocks.

Wall Street, of course, and the stock market, that is not Main Street and the economy. And yet to see these two things playing out in real time can be very disconcerting.

PATEL: Yes. First off, when I drive by, I try not to see the prices. And when I see the grocery bill, I try not to look at the receipt either, because that's where it's gotten to because you just have to pay what you have.

And again, inflation is being pushed by energy while the markets are being held up by strong earnings that has -- specifically around A.I. driven companies. And that's happened over the past week or so.

So let me give you a couple examples that stood out, right.

Alphabet, which Google their stock, you know, went up $400 billion in market value added because their cloud revenue is up 60 percent, again A.I.-driven.

Amazon their cloud growth another 25 to 30 percent. Again businesses for them still investing. Apple you know iPhone demand still holding, another $110 billion revenue beating expectations.

I can go a little long, but the list isn't that long. It's these big companies. You think, Nvidia, AMD, it's all around A.I. infrastructure data centers.

And the reason why I'm bringing that up, that's what's led this last month to kind of have the market uphold again this past two weeks. It also makes it look like everything is ok, but it really is not for those companies that are not investing in there or they're not being able to cut costs.

And you think of companies like Microsoft and Meta, right, the market didn't really help them too because they wanted to look at the cost.

And then it goes back to energy prices, always tied back to it and the labor as well, and people not willing to spend.

And again, I don't want to say it trickled down like a domino effect, but then we have a real conversation. Our consumers wanting to spend, our businesses really investing outside of the ones that are driving the market.

[01:39:51]

HILL: So given what you just laid out for us here, what are -- a, what are you watching? And for people watching at home, where should they maybe be focusing as they're trying to get a better read on where things are headed?

PATEL: Yes. I mean, you know, first and foremost, right? When you think of what the next three to six months go on, you can't really predict on, you know, how, you know, is this war going to be over? You have to assume that prices are going to still be as is, or if not a little bit more.

And I think for consumers and to specifically individuals, you need to start stashing and saving, buying the things that you need, not what you want. And that helps kind of overall, you know, don't be using the buy now, pay later button as well that you can't afford. This is probably not the time to do that right now. And really tie down into your budget.

I mean, that's the best-case scenario because people who have to drive to work or have to commute, you have to pay those prices. And where are you getting that extra income is from your savings.

HILL: Yes, it's a great point. Ryan, really appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks.

The 75-day partial government shutdown now over the House voting to fund DHS passing the bill the Senate approved more than a month ago after weeks of Republican infighting. President Trump signed that bill into law on Thursday.

It's a big win for Democrats because the bill does not include money for federal immigration enforcement, multiple sources tell CNN.

Speaker Mike Johnson was facing a growing revolt from centrists in his party, so he decided to move forward with the bill following a private leadership meeting where members warned the situation itself was untenable.

You're watching THE STORY IS. For our international viewers, "WORLDSPORT" is up next. For those of you joining us from North America, stay with us. We'll be right back with more news.

[01:41:34]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: President Trump has withdrawn his nomination of Dr. Casey Means for surgeon general. She's a longtime ally of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and echoed many of his views even on vaccines when it came to her confirmation hearing. At moments, it was tense during that hearing. She failed to win over some key Senate Republicans.

So the president has now tapped a new nominee, Dr. Nicole Saphier. She's a radiologist and a Fox News contributor who has said RFK Jr. may not be the best messenger.

Many Trump supporters stand behind him, of course, because of the policies, which he says will make America healthy again. Others were drawn into that fold.

Now, some of those MAHA supporters say they feel betrayed by President Trump and by the secretary. And they warn that their votes could be up for grabs now in the next election.

Here's Meena Duerson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You cannot tell Americans to eat real food while protecting the cancer-causing chemicals sprayed on it

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to fight, fight, fight. MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're at the People Versus Poison

rally in Washington, D.C., where a group of some of the biggest names in MAHA have gathered together to protest against big companies that they say are poisoning Americans with chemicals.

A year-and-a-half after the Make America Healthy Again movement helped propel Donald Trump to the presidency, it's facing a big test.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's be honest, we wouldn't be here right now if President Trump didn't sign that executive order.

DUERSON: MAHA's coalition of health and wellness influencers, vaccine skeptics and environmentalists united under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a champion of their causes. As an environmental lawyer, he helped win a landmark settlement against the makers of the weedkiller Roundup, arguing it's chemical glyphosate caused his clients cancer, a claim the company denied.

But this week, the Trump administration supported the current manufacturer of Roundup, Bayer, in a Supreme Court case over whether Americans can sue for alleged harms from chemical exposure. And in February, Trump signed an executive order protecting glyphosate as crucial to the national security and defense.

How did you feel when you saw that executive order?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was disgusted. I was literally sick to my stomach.

DUERSON: A lot of the speakers here are people who were very active in helping RFK Jr. campaign for President Trump. There's a lot of conversation here about whether those promises are actually being followed through on. What is your sense of the movement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm saying we are on the brink of falling apart. I'm like in red rover right now. Ok, I am diehard conservative, and I got this group of MAHA moms and I'm trying to keep us together.

DUERSON: There were millions of Democratic and Independent moms in particular that voted Republican because they believed Trump, that he was going to do something about pesticides in the food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: MAHA is feeling betrayed and completely dissatisfied with what the administration has done.

DUERSON: The momentum of the movement has given many of its leading voices unprecedented access to a presidential administration.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., HHS SECRETARY: In just 15 months, HHS has delivered historic wins.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The American people.

DUERSON: And they're not ready to give up that proximity to power, even as the pesticide issue threatens to overshadow their other gains. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't regret any of the boost or, you know, the

power that has been had because there's a lot of amazing things that have been done.

DUERSON: How could they do this stuff at the same time as listening to what's so important to so many women and moms like you?

VANI HARI, ACTIVIST: I don't think they understood what they did. They kicked the hornets' nest, and now I think they're starting to realize it.

DUERSON: As the midterms loom this fall, the pressure to please MAHA voters is on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of these moms held their nose and voted for Trump in 2024. And they're not sure that they're willing to vote red in the midterms again.

It's very important for the for the GOP to recognize that MAHA voters are not loyal to a certain political party. MAHA voters are a coalition that's up for grabs.

HARI: It makes us actually women with children especially, sit at home instead of going to the ballot.

ALEXANDRA MUNOZ, PHD, TOXICOLOGIST: MAHA is looking for any representatives that are willing to stand up against corporations and put their foot down.

DUERSON: And Democrats are recognizing there's power in embracing MAHA messaging.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NY): This has got to be a movement that grows, does not divide, but multiplies.

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Well, I've spent a lot of time telling my democratic colleagues, I know this issue isn't on the top of your list, but pay attention to it.

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DUERSON: Is this an opportunity to kind of get some of those voters back?

PINGREE: Absolutely. Absolutely.

ROSIE HOFFMAN, INDEPENDENT VOTER: If anybody is supporting the things that I align with and that -- and the health and wellness space, and they probably have my vote.

ALEX CLARK, CULTURE APOTHECARY PODCAST: This is do or die. This is sink or swim. This is the Titanic is going down. Hundreds of thousands of free votes that fell out of thin air in 2024 have vanished.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And our thanks again to Meena Duerson for that report.

Just ahead here, a new discovery in Egypt. Archeologists unearthing a mummy with fragments of a literary classic on its stomach. Why it may have been there, and just what it may mean.

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HILL: Check out this first of its kind discovery. So yes, that is a mummy, but not just any old mummy.

Archeologists unearthed this Egyptian mummy with a passage from Homer's "Iliad" set on its abdomen. The mummy was found about 100 miles south of Cairo. It's about 1,600 years old. It's from Egypt's Roman era.

Researchers say they're still studying the papyrus and what role it may have played in the funeral ritual. This was one of several mummies found at the site, and while little is known about them, what they do know is that apparently they were wealthy enough to pay for the embalming process.

Sky gazers get ready. You've got two -- the chance to see two full moons in May. The first, the Flower Moon, has already appeared to be full. You may have caught it already. It lasts through the weekend. It peaks, though, at 1:23 p.m. Eastern on Friday.

And then again at the end of the month, another moon for you. What's known as a blue moon. A full moon at the beginning and the end of one month is pretty rare. Happens just seven times every 19 years. Lucky us.

I'm Erica Hill. Thanks so much for joining me this hour on THE STORY IS. There is much more news ahead.

Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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