Okay.....
Brute force. I got up again, grabbed a roofing hammer and smashed the crap out of the lower console. Damn thing popped out alright.
Just kidding. I did use the roofing hammer and brute force. I was able to get both the flat pry end of the hammer and some folded paper towel under the drivers side of the usb hub from the top and pried it out. When it finally gave it made the same noise a rock'em sock'em robot game made when you knocked his block off. The paper towel protected the plastic.
The rest was cake and pie. Plugged it in and presto - CarPlay. The maps are sooooo much better!!!!