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Trump: Ceasefire With Iran Is On "Massive Life Support"; Economic, Political Problems Persist After Maduro's Ouster; U.S. Transportation Chief's Reality Series Draws Criticism. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired May 12, 2026 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Another sign of the French condensation toward Africa. He stood up in front of a room full of Africans and said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: Excuse me, everybody. Hey, hey. I'm sorry, guys, but it's impossible to speak about culture, to have people like that super inspired coming here, making a speech with such a noise. So this is a total lack of respect.
So I suggest if you want to --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: Some Africans consider it a total lack of respect from President Emmanuel Macron. They see that as the continued infantilization of Africans. A European former colonial master telling Africans how to behave. And they ask the question, do you think an African president would do that in Paris or would President Macron do that in the U.S.? So that is the assumed authority that he took here that others maybe would not have suddenly other African presidents would not do in Europe. And yes, it's annoying when the room is noisy and he did the right thing by, you know, trying to calm people down. But the optics of this are all wrong, especially when you consider what President Macron told Africans here, that we come to the table as equal partners but then they see stuff like that and they say, this is why you're getting shunned in the west of Africa and former French colonists, Polo.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: And of course, many in Africa, they do view China perhaps more favorably than former colonial powers like France, as you know, Larry. What do they make of this -- of the summit?
MADOWO: They are watching this with interest. The first time that France has held this Africa summit in an English speaking country is not a former colony here in Kenya. President Ruto has gone out of his way to, you know, be friendly with President Macron. And I asked one of Africa's most prominent entrepreneurs, Tony Elumelu, who's a banker, economist, philanthropist, about what he makes of this moment and how Africa should approach it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY ELUMELU, NIGERIAN ECONOMIST: It's not about it, it's about investment so that collectively we can uplift Africa whilst creating opportunity for developed markets to grow.
MADOWO: Should African countries pick a side? Those who say no, China is a better partner or Russia is a better partner. Others say, no, Europe is where we need to be. What's your view?
ELUMELU: We need our government to prioritize things that will help us create a competitive African economy. It's not whether it's America or it's France or it's Russia or it's China or is Middle East. We should be receptive to all, so long as there's commonality of purpose and interest, so long as they are ready to partner with us in our own terms and our terms should be mutually beneficial to all.
MADOWO: What terms should those be? Because there's a lot of, again, colonial baggage. But it's a new generation now.
ELUMELU: For me, first, it's not about it. It should be about investment. Two, we have -- it's not about talking, it's about concretizing our thoughts and action. We need massive investment in Africa. Take access to electricity, for instance.
Electricity is a nightmare we have in Africa. Our youth under the age of 30 represent about 65 percent of our population. What future are we creating for them? That is what we should be talking about and not about where it's coming from.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: And France announced $23 billion worth of investments in Africa, which should create 250,000 jobs in France and the continent. That's the kind of message that Tony Elumelu and many in the business sector want to see. Obviously, this pushing up against China, which builds shiny things here, Polo, roads, railways, ports, universities, stuff that creates jobs. And that's why they have this positive outlook. Many in Africa like them because of that.
SANDOVAL: CNN's Larry Madowo covering the Africa-France summit. Thank you so much, Larry.
Instead of coming here on CNN Newsroom President Trump showing some frustration. His talks with Iran appear stall when what he has to say about the ceasefire, he describes it as being on life support.
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[04:37:28]
SANDOVAL: Welcome back. President Trump currently weighing his options on what to do next with the war with Iran. The president has slammed Tehran's response to the White House's latest proposal to end the conflict. And now sources telling CNN that he may resume major combat operations in the region. CNN's Alayna Treene reports from the White House.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the Iranians in recent days as the cease fire has dragged on into more than a month calling the latest response from Tehran to the U.S. proposal. And now he said that the state of the cease fire remains on life support. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support where the doctor walks in and says, sir, your loved one has approximately a 1 percent chance of living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: Now, the president was clearly visibly frustrated when delivering remarks in the Oval Office to reporters on Monday. And one of the key things he said that the Iranians just have not really been able to come to the table in a substantial way on is this idea of letting the U.S. go in to retrieve their enriched uranium. He actually argued that they had reneged on a previous agreement to allow them to do so. He said that they changed their minds because it had not been put on paper. And he argued that remains a key sticking point to all of this.
And look, from what I'm hearing from my conversations with Trump officials is that the president is, you know, still seriously considering a lot of the options that his military has put on the table for him. This idea of if he does want to move forward with resuming major combat operations, having the ability and the options to do so. And it comes as, of course, he is growing impatient not only with the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which, of course, has been affecting gas and oil prices worldwide, but also for what he believes is this division within Iran's leadership about how to move forward.
Also discussing that on Monday, he said that there are, quote, "moderates and lunatics" that he is dealing with, that his administration is dealing with as it relates to Iran. He argued that the mall -- the moderates are far more realistic and that he believes they do want to find some sort of diplomatic solution here, but there are others within the Iranian regime that are holding them back. And I think a key question, of course, is where does this go from here? We know there are different people in the administration giving the president different advice and pathways for how to proceed. But a big part of this really does come back to what he desires himself, which is to find a diplomatic deal.
[04:40:09]
The question is how long he is willing to allow this cease fire to continue and really allow what he believes is the Iranians not coming to the table in a serious way to continue. From the conversations I've been having with sources today, essentially they say that they believe a major decision on how to proceed is not likely to be made before the president departs for China on Tuesday.
Alayna Treene, CNN, the White House.
SANDOVAL: It's been now four months since the U.S. military deposed Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro. Up next, CNN travels to Caracas, Venezuela, showing you how people there are living and also what their hopes are for the future.
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SANDOVAL: President Trump still appears to be fixated on adding a 51st state, telling Fox News that he wants it to be Venezuela. But Venezuela's acting president says that that's never going to happen. Speaking from the Hague, Delcy Rodriguez said that while Venezuela is currently working on a, quote, "diplomatic agenda of cooperation with the Trump administration, it will never contemplate losing its independence."
And Rodriguez has been leading the country already for several months after the U.S. ousted former President Nicolas Maduro. But many Venezuelans say that very little has changed back home. CNN's David Culver has our report from Caracas.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign Language)
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He says you can't go any closer because the police have blocked it off and you can see they've got barricade.
CULVER (voice-over): A public demonstration and we can't get in. These Venezuelans are calling on their government to raise wages and ease repression. The police keep turning folks back.
CULVER: He's trying to tell us that there's another side to go to. We've driven all the way around this area for about 30 minutes and we haven't found a way to enter.
[04:45:08]
It looks like now we might have found one possible entry here, but I mean, it's now towards the end of the march and demonstration.
She's saying elections have to come for a radical change.
He says they took, meaning the U.S., Maduro but left the rest of the system in place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delcy, Delcy.
CULVER (voice-over): Delcy as an acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, who governs behind layers of security. Several blocks of armed guards.
CULVER: You got a mobile command force right there. CULVER (voice-over): Not surprising given how her predecessor's rule ended on January 3rd when U.S. forces captured Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Their names and faces now plastered across Caracas. Billboards, graffiti, homemade signs. The government at least wants them back.
CULVER: The reality is Maduro, a man who ran this country for some 13 years, even though his face is everywhere here in Caracas while he's in custody, locked up in the U.S., the system he built that is still standing. And that's not lost on the people here.
CULVER (voice-over): Especially the families of the more than 450 political prisoners still in custody.
CULVER: We've driven about an hour outside the capitol. We're headed to El Rodeo, which is considered to be one of the better known prisons where many of these political prisoners are believed to be held.
CULVER (voice-over): At the prison gate, family members live out of tents waiting for weekly visits.
CULVER: Because they don't have the money to make the trip multiple times they camp out. And on days like today, they have visits with their loved ones.
CULVER (voice-over): Though the repression has not totally lifted, it has loosened a lot.
CULVER: It's also worth noting that not everyone feels like the United States should be in involved in Venezuelan matters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign Language)
CULVER: You think he's crazy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign Language) crazy.
CULVER: At a pro government rally, we had folks coming up to us to say Venezuela is not a colony, that sovereignty here matters to them.
CULVER (voice-over): But for most here, the deepest suffering is economic. The official minimum income just went up to $240 a month. Most Venezuelans earn far less and food alone costs nearly three times that amount. There is a small bubble of wealth, nice cars, weekend clubs, but most here live like Maria Perez's family. Inside her parents' home, the scarcity is hard to miss.
CULVER: This is your dad? Yes.
She said that her dad is a diabetic. Her mom's got severe arthritis. When it comes to health care, it's really bad.
CULVER (voice-over): Her home is a 20 minute walk uphill from her parents. No real roads to get there.
They only really have running water she said every 45 days. And sorry, I'm out of breath a little bit. But the remainder of the days, they rely on these big tanks.
CULVER (voice-over): Venezuela's leaders acknowledge how dire the economic situation is, and they often blame U.S. sanctions, though the Trump administration points to years of corruption, mismanagement and authoritarian rule as the cause.
CULVER: Most everyone that we spoke with over the past few days has given us some version of the same sentiment, and that is that they're grateful that the U.S. captured Maduro. They're glad that he's gone. But as to what happens next, when you ask them that question, they stress that is for Venezuelans to decide. Though, they also emphasize they need the rest of the world to keep on watching.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: Our thanks to CNN, David Culver and his team for that report from Caracas.
And still on the way this hour, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy defending his latest project. It's a reality show road trip filmed with his family over the last seven months. Duffy says it's fine because taxpayers did not foot the bill. Well, then who did?
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[04:53:02]
SANDOVAL: While Americans are facing surging gas prices driven by the war with Iran, the U.S. Transportation Secretary is taking a road trip. Sean Duffy is releasing a short YouTube reality series where he travels around the country with his wife and children. Duffy says that it's paid for by a nonprofit and that no taxpayer dollars were used. But the show is currently drawing some criticism for its timing as well as for its sponsors, which includes some of America's leading transportation, oil and gas companies as CNN's Tom Foreman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a beautiful family.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another reality show, another road trip, but it's a familiar path for this family.
TRUMP: Taking a little trip?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TRUMP: A little trip all over.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his wife Rachel Campos-Duffy of Fox News met on MTV's Road Rules All Stars and they and their nine children are channeling that past in this five part YouTube series.
SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We're encouraging everyone to go take a road trip to celebrate America's 250th birthday. Welcome to Montana.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But the rollout of their made for TV trip through at least 17 states is hitting rough roads with serious safety questions about air travel and several incidents including a frontier plane striking and killing a pedestrian over the weekend. A Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship and gasoline prices way up amid the U.S. fight with Iran. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg posted, "this is brutally out of touch. Regular families afford road trips anymore because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof."
DUFFY: Someone has to pay for this operation. I got to go to work.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Duffy says no taxpayer dollars were involved. Neither he nor his family were paid and sponsors picked up the production tab. But looking at some of those corporate backers, government watchdogs warn that the secretary is enjoying a road trip that appears to have been funded by the very industries his agency oversees.
[04:55:05]
RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, SEAN DUFFY'S WIFE: I wore my boots that John Rich gave me.
DUFFY: They're very sexy.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The Duffys are pushing back, posting that the radical miserable left just hates the show because it's too wholesome, it's too patriotic, it's too joyful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Mud's kind of mad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you're mad.
DUFFY: We're not going to fight on this trip. Put your seatbelts on.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Still, critics say the power couple is on thin ice. Although the project was reportedly shot mainly on weekends and holidays, it took seven months.
DUFFY: There's a crisis, and Pete Buttigieg decides to ignore it.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And back when Buttigieg led transportation, both the Duffys attacked him for doing anything other than his government work. Even for taking paternity leave when his twins were born.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: What the hell was he doing? And we were in the middle of this flight --
DUFFY: But it's (inaudible) time, right? He's not doing his job.
CAMPOS-DUFFY: Exactly. (END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (on camera): So some who heard the Duffys complaints back then say what they're hearing now sounds an awful lot like hyp democracy no matter where you go on the map.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
SANDOVAL: And President Trump's project to paint the Lincoln Memorial's reflecting pool blue was now expected to cost more than $13 million. Federal records showing that the price tag for the no bid contract nearly doubled last week from $6.9 million. Trump has repeatedly claimed that the renovation would cost far less, saying on Monday that it would just be $3 million. But the project has drawn some criticism from some various activist groups who say that the administration failed to complete a required preview process before it decided to move ahead with that work.
Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Polo Sandoval. The news continues right now with CNN "Headline Express."
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