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Economic Benefits Cited as Top Reason to Favor Data Centers; CENTCOM Commander Says Iran Has Moderate, if Not Small, Capability to Continue Strikes in the Region; Iran Says Chinese Ships Among 30 That Transited Hormuz Strait Since Wednesday; Taiwan Emerges as Top Issue in First Day of Trump-xi Meeting; Trump Says Xi Offered to Help With Iran; Racist Livestreamer Charged After Shooting Outside Court; 11 Plane Crash Survivors Saved After Hours at Sea; Teen Saves Woman From Burning Home; Wes Streeting, Leading Challenger to Keir Starmer, Quits U.K. Government. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 14, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

KEVIN O'LEARY, BACKING DATA CENTER IN UTAH: -- and all the auxiliary businesses that go around that and supporting new fire trucks and supporting new sheriffs and everything we have to, to make sure that we can protect this facility. That all accrues to the benefit of those in Box Elder. This is also a project for the nation.

Keep in mind, and I've said it five times, we have a competitor, it's called China, and we have to catch up.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Now, what's really interesting is you hear him there make the argument that these data centers are important in making sure that America stays ahead of China. That does not seem to be an argument that is resonating with the American public. Just three percent of those who said they were in favor of data centers said they were in favor because it could help the U.S. become a tech leader.

So that argument, not necessarily popular with Americans, Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Wow, really interesting polling there. Clare Duffy, thank you so much for that.

Still ahead, Beijing's red line. State media reporting that China's Leader, Xi Jinping, warned President Trump that Taiwan is the most important issue between the two countries. We'll discuss in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:14]

SANCHEZ: Moments ago, the commander of U.S. Central Command testified on Capitol Hill about the current state of Iran's missile and drone arsenals. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN, (D-MI) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Can they strike oil infrastructure across the Persian Gulf?

ADM. BRAD COOPER, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: They have a very moderate, if not small capability, to continue strikes. And we, of course, have accordingly prepared for such a contingency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": CNN's Brian Todd is with us now. Brian, small to moderate, that's not nothing. But he also outlined a lot of degradation of the military.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did and, guys, this is part of the push and pull between the administration in recent weeks and outside outlets, news outlets and others, who are reporting different things about Iranians -- of the Iranians Missile and drone capabilities and how much they've been degraded during Operation Epic Fury.

Now, in early April, CNN reported on an intelligence assessment that said that Iran maintained a significant portion of its drone capability and a large percentage of its coastal missiles. That same week, President Trump basically said they had very few of those left. So again, it's been a push and pull between the administration's claims of how much Iran has been degraded and outside news reporting basically saying that maybe some of that degradation has not been what the administration said it was.

Well, a short time ago, Admiral Brad Cooper. He is the Head of CENTCOM He was asked about the degradation. This is what he had to say. He had a very fairly rosy assessment in the administration's mind of just how much Iran's drones and missiles have been degraded, as well as their navy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The defense industry rates for their drones and their missiles in their navy were degraded by 90 percent. They have about 10 percent left. For the navy, my military assessment would be the Navy will not begin to rebuild for five years to ten years. My professional perspective on this also is that Iran would not return to the same level of navy that it had for a generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So that would be very devastating, obviously, for the Iranians if that assessment is correct. But again, we're going to have to be digging into some of these numbers, guys, and some of the real capabilities that Iran has. Also interesting, what he said was that previous to Operation Epic Fury, he mentioned that he had transited the Strait of Hormuz himself about a hundred times.

He said before Operation Epic Fury started, on a given transit, you would see 20 to 40 Iranian fast boats in and around the Strait. Now, he says, you see about two or three of them. But we do get reports that they're still creating havoc. They're still targeting some vessels. So, you know, what -- where is the truth in there? I mean, that's what we're really going to be digging into here.

KEILAR: Yeah, very important. Brian, thank you so much.

We're joined now by Democratic Congressman, Jason Crow of Colorado. He is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, what did you think about what you heard from Admiral Cooper there, his assessment of the Iranian military? Is it encouraging to you?

REP. JASON CROW, (D-CO) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Brianna, what I heard there was a continuation of the United States confusing tactics with strategy. We have this very, very long history of talking about how many enemy KIA, how many weapon systems, percent of degradation, how much land we're securing. We heard this for decades in Iraq and Afghanistan. America heard it for years in Vietnam.

But what we know is when you talk about, you know, these percentages, weapon systems destroyed, that does not make a strategy and it doesn't ultimately lead to a victory either, right? So if I had a dollar for every time some general or admiral told me of the number of weapon systems destroyed or how many missions or aircraft sorties were conducted, I'd be able to take us all out to a nice meal, but that doesn't win a war.

KEILAR: And Iran is on the agenda during the president's very important trip to China. Trump says that Xi offered to help with Iran. Secretary Rubio said that Trump raised Iran with Xi, but that he didn't ask for help with Iran. How could China be helpful to the U.S. on this in your view?

CROW: Well, the premise of your question is actually disturbing to me. It should be disturbing to every American. That is that it's clear that China knows that we are coming hat in hand. We have very little leverage. We need help reopening the Straits. We need help ending this conflict. We need help with oil prices. All of these things, President Xi and China understands, right?

And then, you add on top of it, Donald Trump going over there with a plane load of executives and CEOs, the wealthiest Americans, you know, with a combined wealth of $1 trillion that try to strike deals that will benefit them and their big companies as opposed to going with a focus on working-class Americans and the middle class striking -- trying to strike a deal that will benefit regular Americans.

[13:40:00]

You know, we've seen this movie before. We know how it plays out. What's going to happen is Donald Trump is going to announce some big trade deal that's going to benefit those big companies or, more likely, it's going to be a trade deal that actually won't happen.

Because the last time he did it, in 2020, a $200 billion trade deal announced with China, zero of that money was actually spent by China and none of those goods were ever purchased.

KEILAR: So, as you are evaluating here that China has the leverage in these discussions, it's important to note that the U.S. readout of their discussions did not mention Taiwan. But Chinese state media, the first thing they reported out about the meeting was President Xi bringing up the issue of Taiwan during the talks.

He reportedly said that if not handled properly, it could lead to conflict and a "very dangerous situation." He also reportedly said Taiwan independence and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water. Secretary Rubio says the U.S. policy on Taiwan is unchanged.

How are you seeing that issue in light of how you're seeing China having more leverage here?

CROW: Well, first of all, I'll tell you that I think the Trump administration has had such a D.C. bubble focus on all of this. You know, the Trump administration, the president said the biggest issue is Taiwan. Apparently, they're not listening to the American people.

They don't spend a lot of time outside of this town because the American people are concerned about losing their health care, paying their rents and mortgages, and the increased cost of goods and the deindustrialization that continues in America. That's our biggest issue.

But to the extent that people are worried about Taiwan and I am, how we prevent a cross-Strait invasion of Taiwan is by having an international coalition of countries that will join us to stop it. We can't do that alone. Oh, and also, by the way, the way we stop it is not spending down all of our weapons and munitions on an endless conflict in Iran. That's not going to serve our interests.

So all of this makes no sense and it's what happens when there's no cohesive strategy that's designed to lead into a discussion like this, a high-stakes discussion that gives us leverage and gives us a focus that will end up making things better for Americans.

KEILAR: Taiwan has some leverage, and they also have some asks as well. They have approved this $14 billion of U.S. arms sales from the U.S. to Taiwan that Congress pre-approved in January of 2025. Trump still hasn't presented that to Congress, but it's also worth noting that Taiwan manufactures more than 90 percent of the world's advanced computer chips, things that are essential for, I think, the things that people take for granted kind of in their lives for A.I. and beyond.

So as you see that and the idea of that perhaps falling into Chinese hands, how do you think Trump should be approaching that arms deal and China on these two issues?

CROW: Well, you pointed out a great vulnerability that 90 percent of these chips that we rely on for our economy, for our national defense are produced in Taiwan or within the Chinese sphere of influence, which is why under the Biden administration and under the Democratic- controlled Congress, we actually passed the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill to re-onshore advanced manufacturing and chip manufacturing.

So how about this administration stop undermining that and actually implement it, so we can make this stuff here, American jobs, American workers, and actually have control over these chips? So that's the starting point.

And then secondly, we do need to, again, have a strong policy of making sure China doesn't think that we're weak or our coalition is fracturing, and that they can't invade Taiwan. And that includes a robust military aid package, but the military aid package must be coupled with diplomacy and a very strong public signal that America has a coalition that will stop this. This cannot be just throwing weapons and guns and equipment at Taiwan. We know that that won't work.

KEILAR: Congressman Jason Crow, thank you for being with us.

CROW: Thank you.

KEILAR: A dramatic rescue off the coast of Florida. We're now hearing from the people who survived their plane, all of them surviving that plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:49:00]

SANCHEZ: A live streamer known for posting controversial videos using racial slurs is now facing multiple charges, including attempted murder. Dalton Eatherly, known online as "Chud the Builder," was taken into custody after a shooting in front of a Tennessee courthouse. It's not clear yet how the shooting unfolded or what led up to it. It happened during a confrontation between Eatherly and an unidentified man.

KEILAR: Both men were shot and taken to a hospital. Eatherly was live streaming as he was being wheeled off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALTON EATHERLY, LIVE STREAMER: He said, you start saying all that [expletives] to me, I'm going to hit you. He hit me. Started wailing on me. Even after I had to defend myself by shooting him, he's still wailing on me.

FIRST RESPONDER: Where's your weapon at?

EATHERLY: They have everything.

FIRST RESPONDER: What weapon is that right there? Is that yours?

EATHERLY: Yeah. Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, this is not Eatherly's first run in with police. Just days ago, he was arrested and released on bond after causing a scene in a Nashville restaurant.

[13:50:00]

Eatherly is now being held at the Montgomery County Jail until his arraignment.

One of the survivors of that plane crash at sea is speaking out after their dramatic rescue. Here's how she described the panic after they plunged into the ocean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLYMPIA OUTTEN, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: I was trapped because I still had my seatbelt on. I got thrown into the wall. So my son said, Mommy, let's go, come go, come go.

I said, I can't move. I said, I'm trapped. And he turned back, he came back, and he unloosed the seatbelt.

And I ran to the door. And when I ran to the door, I started screaming to the door. Because I thought we was dead, because all I see was more dark water around us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Wow. Luckily, the crew on an Air Force training flight were able to spot the survivors of that plane crash. They then parachuted into the water, saving 11 people who spent some five hours stranded on a life raft.

CNN Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean is with us now. Pete, what else is that survivor saying?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just heard from that survivor, Olympia Outten, from the Bahamas. She was on that flight with her niece and her son, going from Marsh Harbor in The Abacos to Freeport on Grand Bahama Island.

And she just described that the pilot, she says, got off course due to a storm, was running low on fuel. Both engines failed, and then they decided to ditch into the ocean. This is the incredible new video from the 920th Rescue Wing of the United States Air Force.

The Coast Guard says it was the first to receive the distress signal from the downed plane at 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday. Incredibly, the crew of an Air Force HC-130 rescue plane was already nearby on a water rescue training mission when that training mission suddenly turned into the real thing.

The HC-130 crew says they found the survivors floating together in a single life raft, dropped extra rafts, food, water, emergency gear, while helping to dispatch that emergency rescue helicopter.

The Air Force crew says the weather was deteriorating fast. With thunderstorms nearby, sea swells between three and five feet. The helicopter came down to about 10 feet above the water while para- rescue men jumped in, began hoisting survivors to safety one-on-one. Remember, the survivors here were in the water for five hours. And this is what Outten says was running through her head at the time she was bobbing in that raft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OUTTEN: I said, Lord, save us, Lord. Save us. Let someone see us, Lord. Let someone see us because we are in the sea, to be out in that water and to be out there for five hours and ain't seeing no land and just seeing all black water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Outten says she jumped for joy when she saw that Air Force plane overhead. The Coast Guard also assisted in the rescue, orbiting overhead in its own rescue plane. The Air Force crew says they only saw the survivors in the water, not the wreckage of the plane that ditched. But we've confirmed it's a Beechcraft King Air registered in Panama.

Those planes can carry up to 11 people, but it's pretty tight. The Air Force says all 11 survivors were brought back to shore in stable condition. Nine of them have gone home.

The Federal Aviation Administration here in the U.S. not investigating this. This will now be up to the officials in the Bahamas to investigate. Some pretty big questions here about how this plane got off course, although Olympia Outten said, the pilot said that the GPS navigation went out in the plane, which added to some of the confusion.

Running low on fuel, this really reads like a Hollywood script. Really miraculous that they were able to make it out OK.

SANCHEZ: So glad they're OK. It seemed like really harrowing conditions out there.

MUNTEAN: Oh, yeah.

SANCHEZ: Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

Still ahead, a teen is being hailed a hero after helping to save a woman from her burning home. We'll bring you that story of survival next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:18]

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. A guilty plea from the man who repeatedly rammed his car into a Brooklyn synagogue back in January.

36-year-old Dan Sohail initially told police it was an accident, but admitted in court he targeted the building because it's the world headquarters of a major Orthodox Judaism movement, Chabad-Lubavitch. A rabbi says some 2,000 people were inside when it happened, but no one was injured. And Sohail told bystanders to move out of the way beforehand.

He faces up to three years in prison for intentionally damaging religious property and will have to pay $19,000 for repairs.

SANCHEZ: Plus, Britain's health secretary resigns, saying he's lost confidence in Prime Minister, Keir Starmer's leadership, adding that it would be dishonorable and unprincipled to remain in his government. Wes Streeting's resignation comes days after speculation about whether he would formally challenge Starmer's leadership in the country's Labour Party.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Streeting announced that he was stepping down, but did not say that he was launching a leadership contest. In order to trigger that, Streeting needs to gain the support of one-fifth of Labour's Members of Parliament.

And in Iowa, a quick-thinking student helped save a woman's life when her house caught fire. A 17-year-old and his family were playing golf when they saw a nearby house go up in flames. The teen and his father jumped a fence and ran to help just as a propane tank exploded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAREK DESSIMOZ, STUDENT: I started knocking on the windows, like, hitting as hard as I could, and seeing if someone was there. And this lady, I see her inside and she runs over and opens the door and she's shocked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: An Amazon delivery driver also joined in on the rescue, helping hold back the woman when she tried to go back in the burning house to save her cat. Fortunately, the fire department says the cat survived.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts --