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Passengers Being Monitored For Hantavirus In Nebraska & Georgia; Trump Says U.S. On Top Of Hantavirus Outbreak: "I Hope It's Fine"; WH Press Gala Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To All Charges; Trump: Iran's Hardline Leaders Are "Lunatics, Stupid, Too"; Sources: Alarm Inside USPS Over Trump Order To Mail-In Ballots. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired May 11, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: It's going to be a long, long time before this is all resolved, and a really long time before any consumers actually see anything.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Complicated, to say the least. David Goldman -- Dave -- Dollar Dave, I'm working it out on the fly here. We'll figure -- we'll figure out something.

GOLDMAN: Oh, I like that.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes, yes, just write that down.

GOLDMAN: All right. We'll figure it.

JIMENEZ: Keep that in the back pocket. Good to see you.

New hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts tonight -- right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: It's not COVID, but it's not over. Health officials warning, we could see more hantavirus cases in the future while downplaying the possibility of a more dangerous outbreak.

Ballot battle, why the post office may be the new front in President Trump's war on mail-in voting.

And deadline at the High Court, the Supreme Court will decide whether to allow access to the abortion pill by mail.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JIMENEZ: Well, breaking news, 18 passengers on the ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are back in the United States after, well, after everything they went through, but also under medical evaluation. Right now, most are quarantining in Omaha, Nebraska, where at least one American who tested positive overseas is in a biocontainment unit. Another person with mild symptoms was flown to Atlanta just hours ago. An additional passenger traveled with them.

And then today, top U.S. health officials are stressing the risk of public spread is very low. Here was President Trump earlier. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope it's fine. All I can do is everything that a president can do, which is somewhat -- which is somewhat limited. But -- but it seems like it is not easy to spread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: CNN's Rafael Romo is live in Atlanta, where two of the passengers are.

So, Rafael, what are you seeing? What more can you share right now?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Omar, well, Emory Healthcare has confirmed that this medical institution behind me, Emory University Hospital, has received two passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship following a hantavirus outbreak on board. In a statement, Emory Healthcare said that one symptomatic individual is receiving care in Emory's biocontainment unit, and one asymptomatic individual, identified as a close contact, is undergoing evaluation and monitoring.

What we know, Omar, is that a total of 18 Americans were flown to Omaha, Nebraska, overnight on a charter flight. According to health officials, 16 are at the University of Nebraska's medical center, which houses the national quarantine unit. One of them was placed in the biocontainment unit there after testing positive for hantavirus. The other 15 are now in the quarantine unit and all have received initial medical assessments.

Initially, officials said that two people were being transferred here to Atlanta's Emory University Hospital for what they called further assessment and care. Now, we know that at least one has symptoms.

Governor Brian Kemp said earlier today Georgia is -- Georgia is well- positioned to monitor and take care of any cases of hantavirus because of its medical institutions and experience dealing with past infectious outbreaks. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R) GEORGIA: We're doing like we've done in the past with COVID-19. If you remember, we took patients and our fellow Georgians off of cruise ships at Dobbins Air Force Base, the Georgia National Guard. We're as prepared as any state in the country to do this. And it's just the right thing to do. I mean, you think if you were one of those passengers that was stranded, especially if you were from Georgia, you would want your state to come to your aid. And that's exactly what we're going to do. And there's nobody better to handle that than the folks at Emory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Omar, of course, many people asking questions about how contagious this disease is. Earlier today, a top official with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department said that the risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low. Admiral Brian Christine, Assistant Secretary of Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also said that the Antes variant of this virus does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged close contact with someone who's already symptomatic. Even so, he stressed, we had taken this situation very seriously from the very start. Omar, now back to you.

JIMENEZ: And obviously something they are continuing to monitor very carefully, both there in Georgia and in Nebraska as well. Rafael Romo, appreciate the reporting. Brianna.

KEILAR: The California man accused of charging through security armed with guns and knives at last month's White House Correspondents' Dinner faced a federal judge today.

[15:05:07]

Thirty-one-year-old Cole Tomas Allen pleaded not guilty to all four charges against him. They include attempting to assassinate the President and assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

We're joined now by Brendan Ballou. He's a former federal prosecutor, and he's also the author of the book, "When Companies Run the Courts: How Forced Arbitration Became America's Secret Justice System."

All right, Brendan. So, one of the -- the big strategy, at least out front here from the suspect's legal team is to ask the judge to disqualify top DOJ officials. I wonder if you think this is going to be successful at all based on what you're hearing from the judge.

BRENDAN BALLOU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think it's a really interesting argument. So, the idea here is that Todd Blanche, the Deputy -- Acting Attorney General, and Jeanine Pirro, the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office, cannot effectively prosecute this case because they are victims. They were in the White House Correspondents' Dinner when Mr. Allen was apparently there.

Ordinarily, I'd say this is a bit of a stretch of an argument. You need to show that them prosecuting the case would either show bias or the appearance of bias. But here, the government might not want to argue too hard in the other direction, because they're going to need to show that Donald Trump was a victim in this case, you know, and he also was not in the room with the suspect at the same time. So, if they're going to say that Trump is a victim, they might also have to say that Blanche and Pirro are victims, too.

KEILAR: That's a really interesting point. The judge has said he would be surprised if these officials were victims in any legal sense and noted they didn't see the incident. So, what does that say about President Trump?

BALLOU: Yes, I mean, it makes it, you know, it marginally harder for the prosecution to prove its case here, you know? The lead charge here is attempted assassination of the President. And one of the interesting facts that we have so far is that the suspect has had a manifesto that talks about various wrongdoings by this administration, but that doesn't name Donald Trump specifically. Now, it's going to be a bit of a stretch, but I would imagine that the defense is going to argue this guy might have been trying to do harm, but he wasn't specifically targeting the President.

KEILAR: The defense said it's likely they'll be asking for the entire U.S. Attorney's Office under Pirro to be removed from the case. Is that even possible?

BALLOU: I -- it's possible. You could get a prosecutor from the Eastern District of Virginia or Maryland or something like that.

KEILAR: Okay.

BALLOU: So, logistically, it's possible, but I agree Judge McFadden, who I've appeared in front of a very experienced judge is a former Trump administration official and a former police officer. So, I think he -- he might naturally be a little skeptical of an argument like that.

KEILAR: Okay, so if the defense potentially might be, no, actually that's not what he was going to do. That's what I hear you saying, right? Maybe -- maybe he pursues a defense of I wasn't actually trying to kill the President.

BALLOU: Yes.

KEILAR: Okay, but there's a manifesto, right? And we know kind of what it spells out in there in terms of administration officials and also the collateral damage that the suspect appeared to be comfortable with. There's video, there's a lot of stuff. How do you overcome that as the defense?

BALLOU: Yes, and I'm a former prosecutor. So, you're asking me to be a defense attorney here, but I think there are a couple of things. So, one, you would make that argument about was he actually intending to attack the President? The other is there's apparently at least some dispute about whether the secret officer -- Secret Service officer who was shot was actually shot by the suspect or shot by friendly fire. And you try to raise those arguments and then you imagine that the prosecutors are thinking about that, you know, comparatively. They've had a miserable record with juries in the District of Columbia right now. Maybe the combination of all of those things is going to make the Department of Justice want to seek a plea here.

KEILAR: And what would that look like?

BALLOU: Well, the -- the prosecution can't seek the death penalty here. It's just life in prison. So, the question is, you know, what would those circumstances be under? Would there be any chance for this person to be released? Those are the sorts of things that prosecutors are going to need to figure out and then negotiate with defense counsel.

And then, obviously you got to decide, does the client actually want any of this? This is a man with an agenda. Does he want to reach a plea or does he want to make a statement through a trial?

KEILAR: Yes, very interesting things to consider. Brendan, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

Still to come, President Trump says the month-long ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is on massive life support, what today's comments could mean for tensions going forward.

And beloved actor Martin Short is now sharing some personal details about the loss of his daughter, how he says it's shaped his understanding of mental health struggles.

We'll have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:14:05]

JIMENEZ: President Trump is flatly rejecting the latest Iranian counteroffer to end the war. And today, the President said Iran's terms, which include sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, have put their fragile ceasefire, quote, "on life support," but he didn't stop there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: In Iran, they have the moderates that are dying to make a deal, and then you have the lunatics, and I guess they're a little bit afraid of the lunatics. After reading that piece of garbage they sent us, I didn't even finish reading it. I said, I'm not going to waste my time reading it. I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: With us now is Alan Ayre. He is a former State Department official who's a key member of President Obama's negotiating team for the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. He's also a fellow at the Middle East Institute. Thank you for being here. Good to see you.

ALAN AYRE, MEMBER OF U.S. NEGOTIATING TEAM WITH IRAN UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good to see you, Omar.

JIMENEZ: You know, I -- I just want to start with a little bit of what we just heard there. The President accusing Iran of backtracking on an agreement to let the U.S. remove Iran's enriched uranium. Trump said they changed their mind because they didn't put it in the paper.

[15:15:03]

And I just wonder for you, do you -- do you see this as a possible miscommunication or -- or -- or a sign of just Iran's fractured leadership? How do you assess things right now?

AYRE: It's either a miscommunication or a fabrication. I find it unbelievable that Iran, at least early in the negotiation, would agree to exporting directly to the United States all of its highly enriched uranium. Could be the case, but I think a lot of what we're hearing in public is not tracking with underlying reality from either side.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, your perspective is -- is interesting because you -- you were a key member of the negotiating team under President Obama when -- when the previous Iran nuclear deal was put together or the Iran nuclear deal was put together. What do you assess as the biggest differences in the Iranian position or power then versus now?

AYRE: Well, Iran is a lot less likely to do a deal because back then we didn't attack them twice in the middle of negotiations. Back then, they had a relatively more moderate leadership. That leadership was killed and there's a more hardline or radical leadership in place now. And right now, there's a lot more issues on the table than just nuclear. There's also the Strait of Hormuz. So, it's going to be much, much tougher to get a deal now for -- with this Iranian administration.

JIMENEZ: At that time, what did you -- what did you assess was -- I guess, the word would be breakthrough moment. What -- what did the Iranians, again, we're talking about a decade ago at this point, more ...

AYRE: Right.

JIMENEZ: ... more so, but -- but at the time, what -- what in particular was appealing to the Iranians to allow that diplomacy process to move forward in the way that it did?

AYRE: The key difference between then and now is that back then, both sides wanted to negotiate. Both sides said, now it's time to get serious about negotiations. Right now, neither side is serious about negotiations. Both sides now think they can get a little more leverage before entering negotiations. Once we committed back then, all you needed was time. And it took five years from start to finish.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, at this point, I mean, it seems to be in a stalemate. I mean, the -- it's -- the ceasefire seems to be holding. There's some flare-ups back and forth. It hasn't -- it hasn't crossed the threshold of what the United States deems to be the ceasefire being broken, despite, again, some of those -- some of those strikes. But he described it as the ceasefire being under massive life support right now.

And I just wonder, from this stalemate position, do you believe the Iranian position moves without U.S. military action? Is diplomacy or any form of diplomacy or trust off the table right now? How do you -- how do you see things?

AYRE: Well, I don't necessarily accept, Omar, the -- the -- what you're implying. The Iranian position is not going to get softer with additional military action. All that's going to do is engender a military response from Iran, perhaps against energy infrastructure in the Gulf countries. But this is the mistake, I think, that our administration makes. They think if they just increase the pressure to 11 militarily, that Iran will accept what Iran perceives as maximalist U.S. demands. That's not going to happen, unfortunately. JIMENEZ: So, what do you -- what do you see here? Because obviously,

one of the key tenets of -- of the Iran nuclear deal, the previous one, the JCPOA, had a threshold for enrichment way below weapons grade. But obviously, a main priority of -- of the United States and -- and U.S. allies seems to be keeping it from getting it to weapons grade.

So, is it going to be taking out the enriched uranium? Is it going to be some sort of similar monitoring system? How are you looking at things moving forward?

AYRE: Well, the -- the strange thing is, there's a deal to be had. It's going to be the same deal structurally that -- under the Obama administration. Iran will accept constraints on its nuclear program and increased verification, the IAEA doing its job, in exchange for an easing or lifting of sanctions.

What's different now is Iran's got 60 HEU, highly enriched uranium. They're willing to dilute it. They're willing to send it to another country. They're unwilling to send all of it to the United States. So, there's a contour of a deal, but again, both sides have to be at that place where they're earnestly seeking negotiations, and we're not there.

JIMENEZ: One of the things that's interesting here is sort of looking at the regional response to -- to what's been going on. Obviously, what was novel was Iran attacking countries like the UAE, for example, and Qatar, but Iranian state media is reporting that Iran and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministers have spoken for the second time in 24 hours. Oman's foreign minister saying there's a, quote, "urgent need to free ships stranded in the Strait."

And I just wonder, how are America's Gulf allies either factoring into these negotiations, or -- or what are the stakes of their monitoring of what's going on?

AYRE: Well, there are a lot of countries trying to -- trying to find a solution to this. Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi, Qatar, you know, this is killing the GCC countries economically. It's not just Asia, Europe, Africa and the United States. So, everyone has a vested interest in getting the Strait open as soon as possible, because that's the ticking time bomb. Every day the Strait stays closed, the economic consequences for the world just get compound.

[15:20:08]

JIMENEZ: Alan Ayre, and actually, I'm just going to ask you really quickly.

AYRE: Sure.

JIMENEZ: President Trump headed to China this week. How do you see China in all of this?

AYRE: China's the only country with significant leverage on Iran. And it's already using that. I think possibly President Trump will be unwilling to ask China for a favor, because it means he'll have to give something to China, and the bilateral agenda is already laden. But there's no doubt that China has a key role to play in any possible solution.

JIMENEZ: Alan Ayre, good to see you in person. Thanks for being here.

AYRE: Thank you, Omar.

JIMENEZ: Thanks for your time and perspective.

AYRE: Cool.

JIMENEZ: Of course. All right, coming up for us, President Trump drawing the U.S. Postal Service deeper into his battle over mail-in voting. Why critics are calling the proposed changes, quote, "a disaster." More coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:30]

KEILAR: This Thursday, a federal judge will hold a hearing on the latest front line in the election ballot battle, and that's the Postal Service. The President's executive says he's not going to vote for the Postal Service. The President's executive order from March directed USPS to not only deliver the ballots, but also help decide who gets them. Now, sources say there's alarm inside the Postal Service over whether the already financially strapped agency can take on these new duties. CNN's Gabe Cohen has the details on this.

All right, what are they getting ready to do here?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Brianna, what this executive order directs the Postal Service to do is to essentially start policing absentee ballots that come into their system, not for postage issues, but to ensure that they are not delivering any ballots to or from people whose names are not specifically on these approved mail-in voter lists that states would be expected to hand over to USPS before the midterms.

Now, the White House says it's about making sure that absentee ballots are only sent to eligible voters, but it's already sparked several lawsuits from states and voting rights groups who say that's just unconstitutional to take that authority away from the states and to have the Postal Service actually deciding who may be able to get a ballot and, in some cases, who may not get a ballot.

And, look, that concern and several others are certainly present in and around the Postal Service right now, talking to officials, both current and former. Yes, there are major concerns about whether or not they have the legal authority to do this, to be cross-checking lists, potentially rejecting ballots. There's also a question about their capabilities, a cash-strapped agency implementing a what would be massive new program just months before the midterms when potentially 10s of millions of people are going to be casting ballots that way. I spoke to one former chair of the Board of Governors for the Postal

Service who said if they implemented this, and that's the quote behind me, "if the Postal Service decides to do this, it will be a disaster." A lot of officials don't think they are capable of doing this. And, by the way, this is an independent entity -- entity, an independent agency. And many people say that they could, if they wanted to, push back on or potentially even reject the President's order in this case.

But I think really interestingly, Brianna, that has not happened, at least not publicly. The Postal Service appears to be trying to comply. They've taken their first steps toward implementing this, what's called the rule-making process, where they try to figure out, okay, how would we do this? And they have really good reason to want to avoid a confrontation with Congress and with this administration, because I'll remind you, the Postal Service right now is facing a financial crisis. They are potentially going to run out of cash within the next year. And they've been asking Congress to approve this financial overhaul, lifting a lot of the restrictions around the USPS, but they're going to need cooperation. It really hinges on lawmakers and on this administration. So, this may just be a hill that they don't want to die on right now.

KEILAR: Such an unusual situation. Gabe, thank you so much for that report.

Still to come, tracking the hantavirus, 18 people from that cruise ship hit by the outbreak are back in the U.S. What doctors are watching for in the coming days and weeks.

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