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National News
CNBC blindsided as Musk abruptly bails on live interview while SpaceX shares freefall
CNBC was left holding the bag on Friday when Elon Musk abruptly backed out of a live, heavily promoted interview moments before it was set to air, as SpaceX shares slid below the price of their first public trade.
The network had spent the morning teasing the sit-down, billed as Musk's first television interview since SpaceX went public. Anchor Scott Wapner threw to correspondent Julia Boorstin at the Allen & Co. gathering in Sun Valley, Idaho, to explain why it suddenly wasn't happening.
"We've been promoting this exclusive interview that Elon Musk was expected to give to our Julia Boorstin, which is now apparently no longer happening. I want to bring in Julia Boorstin, who's been in Sun Valley. Julia, do you want to explain to us exactly what happened here, as this was imminent?" said Wapner.
"Yeah, we were expecting to start an interview with Elon Musk right now at noon Eastern. We just got word that he has to postpone," Boorstin replied, adding that the network hopes Musk will offer a new time.
Boorstin noted that SpaceX shares were trading below the level of their very first trade and well off the highs the stock reached after its record June debut. As she spoke, shares were off nearly 3% at around $148. SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 and opened at $150 on June 12 before surging in its opening sessions, then slipping back below that opening level as it was pulled into major market indexes.
She said there was plenty she had hoped to raise, including Grok 4.5, the AI model Musk's company launched Wednesday, and how SpaceX is holding down customer prices as component costs climb. That thread would have followed a CNBC interview a day earlier with OpenAI's Sam Altman about efficiency gains in his company's newest models.
Wapner called it an unfortunate development and said the network would report any update.
National News
Ex-GOP strategist demands CNN fire Scott Jennings if McConnell story unravels
A former Republican operative on Friday warned CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings that he could lose his job if his claims about Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) prove false.
After video footage obtained by CNN showed an ambulance loading the Republican lawmaker inside — nearly a month after he was first hospitalized — Cheri Jacobus suggested that CNN should take action against Jennings, who claimed that he spoke to McConnell Tuesday for about 17 minutes.
"If @ScottJenningsKY is proven to have lied about having a nearly 20 minute phone conversation with McConnell, @cnn needs to fire him immediately," Jacobus wrote on X.
Jennings told CNN anchor Kasie Hunt that the senator, whom he has known since he was a teenager, was speaking to him on the phone during the apparent call. He described it as a "wide-ranging conversation" about Iran, and his "voice sounded strong."
"I wasn't really expecting him to call this morning," Jennings said. "So when I heard his voice today, and he was clearly keeping up with stuff."
Jennings said that McConnell told him that he was talking to Republican leaders. The update followed growing speculation over his health after he was hospitalized for more than three weeks following reports of cardiac arrest.
"It made me pretty happy," Jennings said.
"All the rumors about him being dead, or brain dead, or his body being hidden somewhere — I've seen all kinds of crazy things on the internet that are obviously not true because he picked up the phone and called me, and that was a good thing," Jennings added.
On Thursday, Jennings said he spoke with McConnell's team and urged them to speak up about the senator's health.
"My personal view is that they do need to actually have a little more transparency with the people of Kentucky," Jennings said. "I counseled him and his team as such."
