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Acting A.G. Defends Anti-weaponization Fund; Iran is Rebuilding its Military Capabilities; Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) is Interviewed about Iran; Ukraine Strikes Russia Training Camp; Blanche Defends Fund. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 21, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

DR. ELISA PORT, MOUNT SINAI'S CHIEF OF BREAST SURGERY: Age group and you haven't been screened because you have other -- no other identifiable risk factors, don't dismiss something new that you feel. And know your body and know what's normal for you.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Learning to fight for yourself. You know, we often --

PORT: Yes, advocate for yourself.

SIDNER: It's a skill that I -- that I've had to learn. People go, oh, you do news. You talked to, you know, big name people. I'm like, yes, but when I'm in the doctor's office, the doctor is the king in my eyes. And I sort of am in this weird, pleasing thing. It's like, everything's fine, everything's OK, but it wasn't. And so you learning to advocate I think is a really good message that you're sending in part in this book.

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SIDNER: The book is really well done.

PORT: Thank you.

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Dr. Elisa Port, thank you.

PORT: Thank you so much.

SIDNER: Not only for coming in.

PORT: Thanks for having me.

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PORT: Thank you.

SIDNER: You doctors saved my life and I will be forever in the debt of science and our medical team.

PORT: Thank you. We're privilege to do that work.

SIDNER: Really appreciate it.

All right, a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

This hour, the growing bipartisan backlash to the president's so- called anti-weaponization fund. The acting attorney general defending it in a new CNN interview as a new lawsuit to stop the fund calls it one of the most brazen acts of public corruption in United States history.

Plus, new reporting that while the world has been focused on Iran, Ukraine has been quietly winning the war against Russia.

And a stunning scene near Wall Street. Look at this. A ball of fire engulfing almost a city block. New details about what caused this blast.

John and Kate, out today. I'm Sara Sidner, with Fredricka Whitfield. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning, a lawsuit from January 6th police officers aims to block the Trump administration's nearly $2 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund, which would be paid for with taxpayer money. Democrats and even some Republicans are slamming the fund that's designed to compensate people who claim they were unfairly targeted by the U.S. government. Possibly eligible for that money are any one of the nearly 1,600 people who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, including the violent ones who assaulted police officers. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche offered a lengthy defense of the funds while speaking with CNN.

Chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid joins us now.

You sat down with Blanche, Paula. What did he have to say?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, as we know, a lot of people are talking about this fund. Not everything the Justice Department does makes it into the national conversation. But this has. And that's really because they've put forth a $1.8 billion, roughly, but they haven't put forth a lot of specifics and details about how they're going to prevent this from becoming sort of a taxpayer-funded feeding frenzy, because no one in the history of the country, who's been investigated by the Justice Department, thought it was fair. So, it was great to sit down with the acting attorney general and try to get some clarification on exactly what they want to do with this fund.

Now, one of the big outstanding questions is whether individuals who were convicted of assaulting police officers on January 6th, if they would be potentially eligible to get money from this fund. He and the vice president had weighed in on this on Tuesday. So, it gave him a chance to sort of clarify what his thinking is there. Let's take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID: You're the nation's top law enforcement official right now. Would you be OK with people who were convicted of hurting police getting taxpayer money?

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: Just to be clear, people that hurt police get money all the time, OK? There's a process where if you are -- if you are -- if you believe you have your rights violated, you can -- you can apply for funds, you can sue, you can file a claim, you can go to court. In some of those cases, the state, the government, the federal government settles those cases.

It's abhorrent to ever, ever touch a law enforcement officer, which is why anytime anybody does that and it's a federal officer, we'll prosecute them. But that's a completely different question with whether an individual is allowed to apply for a claim. Whether they'll get a claim, who depends -- it depends. I can't -- it's not -- it would not be appropriate for me to talk about absolutes. Like absolutely not. Under no circumstances. I mean we can talk about hypotheticals till we're blue in the face, but that really wouldn't be fruitful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: So, what he appears to be referring to there are individuals who believe they have faced excessive use of force or other misconduct by police suing or pursuing some sort of avenue to get compensation.

[09:05:06]

Now, that is different than what we're talking about with this fund, but that's actually a target of our reporting today to look at how much money has been given out in those funds. To what extent is that an apt comparison?

But really, the big question here is, is this a good use of taxpayer funds? How are you going to prevent this from becoming something that primarily benefits the president's allies?

And I pushed the acting attorney general on that. And he is firm in his belief that taxpayers would want their money going towards this. He says, and, you know, I'm paraphrasing here, but he says, if people understood how the Justice Department has been used over the past several years, that they would want to use their taxpayer dollars to compensate these individuals. It remains to be seen if taxpayers will feel that way. A lot of the big outstanding questions here revolve around who are the five people that are going to be vetting these claims. The acting attorney general has about 30 days to select those five individuals, and then it may become more clear exactly who is getting money. And, of course, the big question, how much?

WHITFIELD: Right. All right. Paula Reid, thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Fred.

Brand-new CNN reporting this morning. U.S. intelligence now believes Iran is rebuilding its military far faster than expected. And it's already producing new drones. One U.S. official is telling CNN reporter Zach Cohen that Iran could have its drone fleet fully rebuilt in as little as six months. But that's not the story that the Pentagon has been telling Congress. The head of U.S. Central Command testified this week that strikes ended up wiping out 90 percent of Iran's defense industrial base, and that Iran, quote, "cannot reconstitute for years."

Now, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are at odds over what to do next after Trump said he called off new strikes that he had planned on Tuesday. CNN learned that the two leaders had a tense phone call with Netanyahu pushing to resume kinetic operations.

CNN's senior national security reporter Zach Cohen joining me now.

As I mentioned, this is your reporting on Iran's military rebuilding. What did you learn?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Sara, we're told that Iran is actively working to rebuild its production facilities and weapon systems that suffered significant losses in those U.S.-Israeli strikes amid this ongoing conflict. And they're doing so ahead of schedule, ahead of the estimated timelines initially projected by the U.S. intelligence community.

And one example of this, sources pointed to, was that Iran is already producing some drones, already has some of its drone production facilities back online despite those combat operations by the U.S. and Israel, which the drone facilities were a significant target in those. But again, one U.S. official putting the timeline before Iran could fully reconstitute its drone attack capability at within six months, which is a reflection of sort of this diverging view from what we've heard from senior Pentagon officials who have said that Iran -- the damage to Iran's defense industrial base means that they cannot reconstitute for years. But our source is saying it's more of a matter of months for things like missile sites, launchers and also its industrial base writ large, allowing Iran to apparently build back its military capability that it lost.

But take a listen to what Admiral Brad Cooper, who is the top commander for U.S. Central Command, what he said this week about the amount of damage that was done to Iran's industrial base, and what that means for its ability to reconstitute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. BRAD COOPER: Operation Epic Fury significantly degraded Iran's ballistic missiles and drones while destroying 90 percent of their defense industrial base, ensuring that Iran cannot reconstitute for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COHEN: So again, we're told that U.S. intelligence estimates say that it's more a matter of months for some of these key capabilities, which do vary from weapon component to weapon component. We're also told that the U.S. intelligence community assesses that Iran still maintains significant ballistic missile and drone capability that was not destroyed in those previous strikes.

So, ultimately, at the end of the day, Sara, Iran still maintains the capability to be a threat to regional allies in particular. And it seems that their pace at which they're reconstituting means that they could be a threat in the long term as well.

SIDNER: Yes, we're just hearing the sound of those drones, which gives chills down your spine, listening to those overhead.

Zach Cohen, thank you so much. I do appreciate your great reporting on this.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sara.

Joining me right now is Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania.

Congressman, glad you could be with us.

So, what does this underscore to you about Iran's capabilities to elevate or, you know, kind of revitalize its drone capabilities and the effectiveness of U.S. strikes aimed at crippling Iran?

REP. BRENDAN BOYLE (D-PA): Well, it is a very concerning report. Good to be with you, by the way.

[09:10:01]

But it is a very concerning report. There's no question about that.

It shows you, yet again though, this administration has really not been on the level with either Congress or the American people from the very beginning. I mean eight, nine months ago, when there were strikes on the nuclear facilities, we were told by this administration they've been completely destroyed. Now, here we are, and apparently the reason why we're in this war is to take out the nuclear program that the White House said had been completely crushed eight, nine months ago.

Really, the shifting rationales for why we're at war is one of the many reasons why I've been deeply concerned about this whole enterprise from the very beginning.

WHITFIELD: The president, you know, threatened to go after Iran after he said he didn't like the latest peace proposal. Then President Trump changed his mind, saying, no strikes. Now it's back to an ominous threat.

I mean, is the U.S. losing leverage and perhaps even respectability, you know, in this conflict?

BOYLE: Well, of course, we don't have the support of our allies. We launched this unilaterally. Really, we only have the support of Bibi Netanyahu. That's it. So that also makes it rather challenging.

I mean a lot of people think that we have allies out of the goodness of our heart to help other people. That's nonsense. We have allies because it's in our mutual interest. So, when we went it basically alone, that was a great mistake. And we're paying that price now in the Strait of Hormuz.

In terms of where we go from here. Donald Trump is making this up, not day by day, but literally hour by hour. So, I can't tell you where we're going to be tomorrow because Donald Trump himself doesn't know.

WHITFIELD: All right, now let me ask you about the interim U.S. attorney general, Todd Blanche's comments, that, you know, even people who were convicted and in many cases caught on tape committing crimes on January 6th are eligible for payment from that weaponization fund. Your Republican colleague, Brian Fitzpatrick, told CNN last night, I'm quoting him now, "not a dime should go to them. Not a single dime."

Do we have more sound from him? OK.

What's your view on this now bipartisan effort to try to stand in the way of this fund and any kind of, you know, payments going to people who are convicted of their participation of January 6th?

BOYLE: Over 140 United States Capitol police officers were injured in the line of duty when they were bravely and courageously defending the United States Capitol and people like me, as I was here that day and a member of Congress. The people who should be getting any dime of taxpayer money are those 140 United States Capitol police officers, many of whom are still dealing with those injuries today five plus years later. The idea that the common criminals, the scum who perpetrated January 6th, the idea that they would get taxpayer money is a complete disgrace.

WHITFIELD: Does Congress have any leverage here?

BOYLE: Yes, of course. We have leverage over the budget. We should do everything we can on a bipartisan basis to stop this once and for all. It's madness. It's sickening. I'm glad that one of my Republican colleagues has spoken out. We need a few others. Let's see where the other Republican members are. Will they finally have the guts to stand up to this out of control president? I'm hopeful, although I'm still skeptical based on what I've seen over the last 17 months.

WHITFIELD: All right, Congressman Brendan Boyle, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Fred.

SIDNER: While the world's been watching developments in Iran, new reporting that Ukraine has been quietly winning the war against Russia. We are live from Kyiv with more on that story.

Plus, flash flooding slamming Atlanta and New York ahead of the holiday travel weekend. Can we expect more storms to hit travelers?

And later, preparing for one last laugh. Stephen Colbert gearing up to close an epic chapter in late night TV.

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[09:18:44]

WHITFIELD: All right, new this morning, Ukraine says it launched a major strike on a Russian drone training camp, killing at least 65 drone pilot cadets and an instructor. The attack comes as Ukraine is outpacing Russia on the battlefield this year, gaining ground as Moscow's losses mount.

Against that backdrop, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to Sweden to attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Anxiety has been growing in Europe over President Trump's shifting commitment to the alliance and his approach to ending the war.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv and joins me right now with the very latest.

What is the latest, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, these two incidents overnight form part of a wider pattern of Ukraine's increasing drone technological prowess, taking a huge toll on Russian occupying forces in areas where potentially a year ago they might have felt out of the range of Kyiv's strikes.

The first one you mentioned there, a strike on what seems to be a drone training facility in Snizhne (ph) in the Donetsk area, a place which they may, as I say, years ago, had felt was out of Ukrainian reach. That hit, it seems, by a drone here.

Some images from the ground, according to the Ukrainians, adding evidence to the notion of a death toll of about 65 there as well.

[09:20:08]

These Russian troops, potentially Chechen troops, actually learning how to fly the attack drones that Russia too throws at Ukraine. Also, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying about 100 dead and wounded from an attack in the Kherson area, where essentially it seems that a drone hit a Russian security service building that had an air defense system in it. A huge secondary explosion, according to video posted by the Ukrainian presidency, adding to that death toll.

Why are these important? Well, they add to a pattern of Ukraine using its drone technology to hit Russia's supply lines. The medium range, the long range strikes we hear a lot about too deeper inside Russia and Moscow, other key cities, too, they're becoming nightly against refineries and military infrastructure. But it's the medium range ones, like the ones we talk about here, that are taking a toll on Russia's ability to field troops into the field.

Look, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves and suggest that Ukraine suddenly has this war sewn up and won. But we are in a moment where there's no dispute that the pressures are greater on Russia, it seems, in terms of manpower and strikes against what -- areas they felt in their own territory were indeed safe.

Ukraine still has a manpower problem. It's making that up with drone and other forms of technology. But it seems as though the moments you described there in which ultimately the Trump administration seems to have left Ukraine to fend to its own devices, sought a political solution with a recalcitrant Moscow here, Ukraine seems to have found, through survival, the ability to get the drone technology it needs and take a toll on Russia now that is becoming increasingly palpable on the battlefield in terms of what Russia is able to do and the territory it's able to take. A real sea change in the dynamic of the war here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

All right, straight ahead, bipartisan fears of a slush fund from that anti-weaponization fund set up by the president and DOJ. January 6th rioters already looking to cash in. Analysis straight ahead.

And new reporting on what caused this scary scene in lower Manhattan. A massive ball of fire near New York's Wall Street.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:53]

SIDNER: There is growing backlash this morning to the so-called anti- weaponization fund established by the Trump administration. Democrats, some Republicans, slamming the nearly $2 billion fund that's designated to compensate people who said that they were unfairly targeted by the government.

Now, police officers who protected the Capitol on January 6th are suing the Trump administration to block this fund from being used, fearing that those who attacked them could actually get paid out. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche strongly defended the fund in an interview with CNN's Paula Reid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: One of the factors the commissioners have to consider is what the claimant did. The claimants conduct, OK? So, in the hypothetical you just described, the claimant would have to say, I assaulted a cop and I want money. So, whether the commissioners will give that person money, that claimant, it's up to them. But that's one of the factors they have to consider for the very reason that was raised yesterday, which should be -- which should be raised, which is that President Trump, this Department of Justice, does not stand for assaulting law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: Well, with me now is CNN legal and national security analyst Carrie Cordero.

It's good to see you. Thank you for being with us. There are so many questions legally about this. First, was a judge involved in approving this particular settlement fund that was created?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Now, it looks like this was a settlement between the president and the Trump family and the Justice Department for the suit that the family had brought against the Justice Department and the Treasury for the leaks of tax returns. And so, what was unusual about that civil case is that you have a sitting president basically suing his own government. And so that case was going to run into some legal issues in the courts that were seeing it. And there were some briefings that were requested.

And so there is a possibility that this fund was basically a way for the president and the Trump family to settle that case and get out of that proceeding.

SIDNER: Look, there are two officers who put their lives on the line to defend the Capitol when the January 6th rioters attacked, and they're now suing to block this new fund. What is the core of their argument? And do you think it has a chance, has some merit?

CORDERO: I think it's a colorable suit. So, it's not frivolous. They're making a couple different arguments. One, which is statutory. One set of arguments is statutory under the Administrative Procedures Act. The other is constitutional.

Basically, what they are alleging is that under the law, under our statutes, Congress didn't create this fund at all. And it's out of the scope of what the Justice Department can do. This commission is just sort of a creation of the administration and is not something that is already put into law, and therefore it doesn't have authority to make and issue the judgments that the Justice Department is saying it's going to make.

[09:30:08]

And then the officers are also making