Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

NBA Player Dies; ChatGPT Lawsuit; Redistricting Showdown; Trump Set to Meet With Xi Jinping; Inflation Rising. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 13, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: And emergency personnel who responded to the scene found drug paraphernalia in the home.

Clarke played his college basketball at Gonzaga. He was drafted in the first round back in 2019. He made the All Rookie Team in his first season. Clarke was just 29 years old. And, Wolf and Pam, an autopsy is being planned to determine the exact cause of his death.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes, so sad. Andy Scholes, thanks for that update.

And our deepest, deepest condolences to their families. May their memories be a blessing.

And the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: And happening now, breaking news: rapidly rising inflation. Businesses are seeing their prices shoot up much more than economists expected. And that is a bad sign for consumers, who are already getting squeezed by higher prices.

BLITZER: And missing leadership. The man in charge of the Food and Drug Administration is leaving the agency after just a year. What his departure means for public health, as the White House works to fill a growing number of critical health vacancies.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with breaking news on the U.S. economy. Key new data shows inflation surging in the United States.

This brand-new report shows monthly wholesale prices soaring past expectations in April, skyrocketing to the highest level in nearly four years.

BROWN: All right, let's go live to CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich.

Vanessa, walk us through this new report. VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, guys, listen, inflation, price increases for businesses really soaring past analyst expectations.

Just take a look at these numbers, the annual rate in April climbing to 6 percent. So that's an inflation rate of 6 percent. The expectation was 5 percent. And, just in March, it was 4 percent. So you're talking about a 2 percent jump month over month on an annual basis, and then, on a monthly basis, in April alone, 1.4 percent.

That is about triple the monthly increase that we saw in March. These are the highest levels that we have seen in four years. Now, this report is broken down into goods and services. On the services side of things, we saw last month services actually remained flat, but this month up 1.2 percent.

And that is mainly because of transportation and trucking. We know that trucks that transport goods across the country are -- use diesel, and diesel prices are up more than 40 percent since the beginning of the war, goods up 2 percent just in the month of April alone. And that is largely because of higher gas prices in the month of April alone, gas prices for businesses jumping 15.6 percent.

This is important, because, ultimately, businesses will now have to decide, Wolf and Pam, do they pass these higher costs down to consumers? Oftentimes, they do,. But businesses are very aware right now that consumers are incredibly price-sensitive, Pamela, and they're going to have to weigh their options.

Do they try to absorb as much of this as possible or pass those higher costs down to consumers in the months to come, Pam?

BROWN: So what is the president saying about all of this?

YURKEVICH: The president was asked yesterday about rising costs for Americans and how that factors into how he's negotiating with Iran. Just listen to this exchange with a reporter just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: When you are negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are Americans' financial situations motivating you to make a deal?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon.

I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. That's the only thing that motivates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Now, there is a percentage of Americans that do believe that they're willing to shoulder the increased cost of goods and services to meet the president's objective to rid Iran of nuclear weapons.

But that percentage, according to a CNN poll, in terms of how Americans view the economy, is actually quite low. So you have 27 percent of Americans believing that economic conditions are good, and then you have 73 percent, the majority, believing that the conditions are poor.

And this is because, just yesterday, Pamela, we received inflation news for consumers. Inflation ticked up to 3.8 percent, outpacing wages for the first time in four years. And a lot of this is being felt right at the grocery store, the highest monthly increase in April in four years.

Look at this, beef prices rising to almost $7 a pound, up 2.7 percent, fruits and vegetables at the grocery store up 2.3 percent. Yes, this is because of increased transportation costs, but also some environmental factors, smaller herd sizes for beef and weather conditions for fruits and vegetables.

[11:05:13]

But look at this, electricity on the rise up 2.1 percent. That is because of rising energy costs, but also because of some infrastructure upgrades and these A.I. data centers just really, really putting a strain on the energy grid.

All of this is to say, Pamela, that we want to see inflation moving closer to 2 percent. In the last two days, we got key economic indicators that signal that we are moving away from that, 3.8 percent inflation for consumers, Pamela, and, today, 6 percent inflation level on an annual basis for businesses, Pamela.

BROWN: Wow, not good for businesses or consumers, as you point out.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And there's more breaking news we're following right now.

Economic concerns are following President Trump nearly 7,000 miles away as he arrives in China. Right now, he's in Beijing after receiving a very beautiful red carpet welcome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHILDREN: (CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Hundreds of Chinese schoolchildren chant "Welcome, welcome" just ahead of a three-day visit that will be felt around the world.

Technology and trade will be a focus of the world's top two economic superpowers, but it's the Iran war that will likely dominate the talks with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping. China is a close partner with Iran and Iran's biggest buyer of oil.

The president is likely to ask Xi to pressure Tehran into reopening the vital shipping route the Strait of Hormuz.

Joining us now, CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid. He is also the global affairs correspondent for Axios.

Barak, do you believe China will be interested in actually collaborating on Iran, an important ally of Beijing?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think the Chinese want to help. I think they have been urging the Iranians to cooperate with the U.S. to try and reach a deal to end the war.

The problem is that the Chinese are also very dependent of the Iranians when it comes to their energy. This is why they have been urging the Iranians, and they haven't been pressing the Iranians.

And I think what President Trump would try and convince President Xi to do is to really press the Iranians to make the concessions that they haven't been willing to make up until now.

BLITZER: Will the president be willing to negotiate on the issue of his tariffs involving China?

RAVID: Well, I have to say, my impression on this trip is that, unlike the past or the beginning of Trump's second presidency, I don't think the president is coming to Beijing for a specific issue.

I think, for him, this is more about holding the summit with President Xi, focusing on their personal relationship. I don't feel that there is a specific deliverable that Trump necessarily wants to come out of this summit with.

BLITZER: How different, Barak, are the dynamics in this meeting versus President Trump's last visit to China back in 2017?

RAVID: Well, I think it's a very different world.

First, Trump is coming to China now when he's in the middle of a war. And, in 2017, it was the beginning of his first term. The world still did not know what it means to have Donald Trump as the president of the United States. Now the world does.

And I think that coming to China right now, when you're in the middle of a war, a war that created a financial crisis not only in the U.S., but all over the world, and an energy crisis, and instability in the Middle East that would likely continue for at least until the midterms, if not more.

So I think Donald Trump is going on this visit or arrived to China when -- in -- the environment is much more challenging for him than for President Xi.

BLITZER: While I have you, Barak, I quickly want to ask you about some news coming out of Israel right now, the U.S. partner in the war with Iran, as you know.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced a plan to phase out U.S. military aid to Israel over the next decade. That would be about, what, $3.8 billion a year, and bring that number down to zero within 10 years.

What are you hearing in Israel? What are your thoughts on this development and the prime minister of Israel publicly telling "60 Minutes" that he wants to eliminate all U.S. economic aid to Israel?

[11:10:06]

RAVID: Well, I think this is something Netanyahu started discussing with President Trump in December when he came to Mar -- to see him in Mar-a-Lago.

And, ironically, during that meeting in December, President Trump didn't really understand why Netanyahu wanted to phase out the aid. He said: I'm supporting aid to Israel. I want to continue aid to Israel.

And I think Netanyahu got the advice of several of his advisers, mainly former Minister Ron Dermer, who said, listen, the atmosphere right now in the U.S. is against aid to Israel, not only in the Democratic Party, but also in the Republican Party. And, therefore, we need to make a change, as our current agreement with the U.S. is coming to an end in less than two years.

Other advisers to the prime minister are still pushing him not to phase out -- not to agree to phase out U.S. aid, but to try and reach an agreement with Donald Trump that is more or less similar to the previous 10-year agreement. Netanyahu at the moment seems to be hell- bent on phasing out the aid.

BLITZER: Yes, a dramatic development, indeed.

Barak Ravid, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, still ahead: The maker of ChatGPT is facing a new lawsuit from someone killed in last year's Florida State University mass shooting. We will ask a lawyer representing the family what they hope the legal action will achieve.

BLITZER: And later: the CIA's secret war in Mexico. We're going to bring you new exclusive details on the spy agency's escalating attempts to take down a drug cartel and how Mexico's president is now responding to our CNN reporting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:16:25]

BLITZER: Breaking news: The South Carolina Supreme Court is overturning the murder convictions of Alex Murdaugh. The court is also ordering a new trial, saying the first one was affected by the -- quote -- "improper influence" of the county clerk.

Back in 2023, a jury convicted Murdaugh of killing his wife and son. He's been serving two life sentences for their murders. BROWN: Well, Wolf, happening now: The family of a victim killed in

last year's mass shooting at Florida State University is suing OpenAI That's the parent company of ChatGPT.

And the lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT enabled and provided advice for carrying out the attack that ultimately left two people dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY WILLBANKS, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: If Phoenix Ikner had been speaking to a human about all of these plans that he had and the things that he was interested in and his mental state, a human would have escalated it to another human to make sure that somebody was checking on him and seeing if he was OK and checking to see if something dangerous might be about to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: OpenAI told CNN in a statement -- quote -- "Last year's mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime. ChatGPT provided factual responses to questions with information that could be found broadly across public sources on the Internet, and it did not encourage or promote illegal or harmful activity."

Joining us now is Bakari Sellers. He's an attorney for Strom Law, representing the family of Tiru Chabba, a victim in the FSU shooting. He was on campus that day related to FSU dining services. And, as for Bakari, he's a CNN political commentator. Want to make sure we note that as well.

Nice to see you, Bakari.

First of all, how is the family doing? And, if you could, just elaborate on why they feel OpenAI is responsible for Tiru's death.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, the first question is a good one. I'm glad we're starting there.

He had a very strong wife, who he leaves here,and he has somebody who just graduated fifth grade, and he has a 5-year-old. When you think about this season, where you're having graduations and you're having programs at the end of the school year, you understand that that family is going through a great deal of sorrow and tragedy, wishing that he would walk back through that door.

But they want the community to know that there's a special thank-you for everybody who stepped in and stepped up.

As for OpenAI and ChatGPT, there were a number of things that we recognized throughout the 13,000 back-and-forth chats that the shooter had with ChatGPT, or this A.I. bot, not just the planning on the day of. I mean, you can talk about him asking about the Columbine shooting, him asking about how would people be remembered in infamy, what time should he go to campus, where there would be the most people present on campus. He asked about guns up until minutes before he fired the first shots.

He utilized ChatGPT as somewhat of a co-conspirator throughout this process. And over the years -- or year prior to, in having these conversations with ChatGPT, there was no recognition or concern.

In fact, this should have been escalated to a human for review. Some of the responses that ChatGPT had given based upon some of the previous conversations they had should have been limited in their response.

And I think that, if steps were taken and safeguards were put in place and not a dollar put over the lives of humans, this may not have happened.

BROWN: As you heard, OpenAI says ChatGPT simply provides factual responses to questions from public service sources and did not encourage any sort of harmful activity.

[11:20:05]

It also says it directed him to mental health professionals. How do you respond to those points?

SELLERS: I mean, we will respond.

I think that ChatGPT has an awesome opportunity to respond to our 76- page complaint. And then we will respond in kind. I can tell you this, however. ChatGPT is rushing a product out to market to make sure that they get their $1 trillion IPO.

The same day we filed this lawsuit, ChatGPT, OpenAI announced a $16 billion consulting arm. They're doing all of this without making sure that the necessary safeguards are in place to prevent these tragedies from happening.

This individual, Ikner, utilized ChatGPT the day of this shooting all the way up until moments before he fired the first shots, talking about his mental health, talking about weaponry, talking about making sure that media paid attention.

Pamela, he even asked how many people would have to be shot to make sure that this would garner the attention that he wanted it to garner. I mean, there were so many steps along the way that, if he were actually talking to Pamela Brown or Wolf Blitzer, you would call the authorities. You would call a mental health professional. You would check on him.

It was so disturbing throughout this process. And, honestly, dating back the year where you had these 13,000 back-and-forths, it was more than disturbing. And ChatGPT did nothing to make sure that a tragedy didn't occur.

BROWN: What is the strongest piece of evidence you can point to that you believe connects this technology to the shooting?

SELLERS: The chats themselves. I mean, I would encourage anybody, particularly journalists who have access to the public records.

We want to say thank you to the attorney general of Florida. We want to say thank you to the district attorney who is pursuing this case with great fever and respect for the family. But the chats themselves -- those chats the day of are just damning in the way that they outline a pattern and a way to carry out mass murder.

And that's what we see. I will also tell you this, that any time you have Bakari Sellers and Ron DeSantis and you have the attorney general of Florida on the same side of an issue, you recognize it's not about the body politic. It's about what's right for all Americans.

And so we stand proud representing this family throughout this process.

BROWN: And you say that because you are a well-known Democrat and they are Republicans, and it is a bipartisan issue.

In the past, though, when other alleged attackers have used search engines to inform their plans, it's rare that those companies have been liable, have been held liable. Why is this different?

SELLERS: So, this isn't a 230 case, which is what you're referring to, Pam.

BROWN: Yes.

SELLERS: This isn't about sourcing information on something like Facebook or YouTube, where other individuals actually place information on there for you to source.

This is different, because this is a A.I. bot that is producing its own content. Facebook, YouTube, they don't produce their own content. However, ChatGPT does. They produce the content and they respond to the queries at hand. That is what we're seeing.

So, these responses were provided without any level of accountability. These responses were provided without any human oversight understanding that they were escalating in tone. These responses were provided because of the inputs that are put in place by ChatGPT and OpenAI.

And we're going to learn so much more when we get to the discovery process. We're going to learn so much more about Sam Altman's motivations and other people's motivations when we're able to sit them down for deposition.

But the chats themselves, the content that's created by OpenAI and ChatGPT, pushing that out without any safeguards, makes this vastly different from the 230 cases that you are referencing.

BROWN: All right, Bakari Sellers, thank you so much.

And we should note that the suspect in the shooting has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges -- Wolf. BLITZER: Up next: It's been called a political arms race, with a

growing number of states redrawing their congressional maps in favor of Republicans or Democrats.

So what will this all mean for voters just ahead of November's midterm elections and beyond, for that matter? We're going to break it all down for you straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:49]

BLITZER: Happening now: growing calls for a special session in South Carolina after state lawmakers rejected a push to get rid of the seat held by Congressman James Clyburn.

Clyburn, who's been in Congress since 1992, is the state's only Democrat in the House. And the proposed map would eliminate his district, which includes most of the majority-black precincts around Columbia and Charleston.

BROWN: And, in Tennessee, House Democratic state lawmakers there have been stripped of all committee assignments -- assignments over redistricting protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROTESTERS: (CHANTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: In a letter from the Republican House speaker, the removals are a punishment for -- quote -- "instigating and encouraging disruptions on the House floor."

BLITZER: Last hour, I spoke to the House Democratic whip, Katherine Clark, about the race to redistrict. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D-MA): They are going to cheat and use every tool they can come up with in order to retain power. And we are going to fight back with the same fury and intensity. The gloves are off. There is no pretense here. They are decimating black political power in order to retain power and keep a system that works against the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)