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U.S. Intel Finds Iran Restarted Drone Production During Ceasefire; Ukraine Targets Russian-occupied Regions in New Drone Strikes; Airlines Passengers Flying Into the U.S. From Areas Affected by Ebola Must Land at Dulles Airport; DRC Says 575 Suspected Cases, 148 Deaths Linked to Ebola Outbreak; Senate GOP Agenda Derailed by Revolt Over $1.8 Billion DOJ Fund; Federal Agency Approves Revised Design for Trump's 250-Foot Arch. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 21, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:41]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Let's turn back now to our top story and some new reporting on the speed with which Iran is rebuilding its military. It's an unexpected speed because sources are saying Tehran is already producing drones again. It could be just months away from fully reconstituting its drone attack capabilities.

Here with us now is Joel Rubin, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under President Obama. He's the author of "The Briefing Book" on Substack. He also wrote the book, "Saving Democratic Foreign Policy: How Democrats Can Earn the American People's Trust to Lead the World Once Again."

All right, Joel, this is pretty stark.

JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yes.

KEILAR: That they are reconstituting their industrial base and the drones could basically be fully online again in a few months here. What does this say about whether the U.S. and Israel has actually hit the Iranian military in the way it said it did?

RUBIN: Yeah, you know, Brianna, what it says is that we had no plan going in beyond a military strike scenario at the beginning. And that that has enabled us to essentially look at this and say, we're stuck in a quagmire. And that's where we are right now.

Look, we had no political plan. We had no diplomatic strategy to get our allies on board in a robust manner, in addition to Israel. The president's trip to China was a failure when it comes to stopping Iran from advancing its programs in this rebuild.

For example, the China is not using its diplomatic muscle to get Iran to respond in any coherent way. And so, now we're in this dynamic where the United States is stuck. And if we actually stop and walk away, Iran will be in a stronger position.

KEILAR: I mean, there's a question of whether the U.S. should even expect China --

RUBIN: Right.

KEILAR: -- to be operating like that --

RUBIN: That's true.

KEILAR: -- or doing them a solid, right? And sources are telling CNN that Russia and China are helping Iran --

RUBIN: Yeah.

KEILAR: -- rebuild militarily. That's part of the reason why they're on this timeline to get back kind of to normal-ish in such quick order here. But Trump said, as he came back off this China trip, that Xi had told him, he'd promised him he's not sending any weapons to Iran. It turns out there were weapons components. What do you make of this?

(LAUGH)

RUBIN: Yeah. What's the old adage? Trust but verify, and we're verifying, and that's a lie. But look, there is a role for China potentially in this. There was a decade ago in the Iran nuclear deal. It is in China's interest to not have oil prices skyrocketing as they are.

But we have to make that case and we have to make sure that we're galvanizing our allies as well to put pressure on China. There's a whole international component of this that we're completely ignoring. We are operating alone and independently, and with Israel as our ally in this, our wingman in this.

Israel is now looking at United States and wondering, where are you going? Like what's your plan? President Trump essentially has an argument with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but he doesn't have a day for it. He just says, trust me. And I think that it's clear right now that nobody knows how to trust President Trump because he's not giving clarity about where he's going on Iran.

KEILAR: Yeah, there's tension in that relationship.

RUBIN: That's right. That's right.

KEILAR: And then when it comes to China, they have an interest, obviously, in oil not being what it is. China also has an interest in the U.S. being engaged in a bit of a quagmire.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: And you used that word.

RUBIN: Yeah. That's right.

KEILAR: Are you seeing this as sort of evidence?

[13:35:00]

Like, is this an inflection point in that question of, are we in a quagmire?

RUBIN: We are clearly heading into that dynamic where if we were to -- let's just imagine a scenario where we were to withdraw today and stop, Iran would have complete control of the Straits of Hormuz. Our allies in the region would be petrified that Iran could then strike them at will without any defenses and the Israelis would be left alone to likely take strikes in an ad hoc manner to defend themselves when they see imminent threats. So that means that we now have to stay.

And if we don't have a diplomatic path out, a political path that is strengthening our security goals in the region, then we are in a military quagmire, then we are stuck. We can't leave, but we also can't stay in this situation where there's no solution.

KEILAR: Is it possible, is it probable, are you projecting that the U.S. --

RUBIN: Yeah.

KEILAR: -- made things worse by engaging in this war?

RUBIN: Well, the story's not over yet, and that's one thing I have to --

KEILAR: How do you stop that from being the story?

RUBIN: I'm glad you asked that because, look, we're talking a few months in, but this is a moment where President Trump and his team need to be serious. This is a moment where they need to come to Congress, for example, with a robust, clear strategy and get Congress bought in.

They need to get legislation moving in that direction, be it funding, our war authorization, something that builds the case. They need to go to the United Nations, they need to go to our allies in the region and galvanize support.

Right now, they're on their own. The weakness of America alone is showing itself. We can make the case, we can turn this around, but the current strategy is ensuring that we will not.

KEILAR: Joel Rubin, thank you so much for the discussion.

RUBIN: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: Appreciate it. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Now to new developments in Russia's war on Ukraine. The Ukrainian military launching new drone strikes targeting Russian-occupied territory. This video posted on social media was geolocated to the same area of a strike in the Donetsk region where Ukraine says more than 60 Russian drone pilots, cadets, and an instructor were killed in a strike on their training camp.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv with more.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yeah, it's an important reflection here of what Ukraine says, it is increasing range, ability to strike targets here in occupied Ukraine. But areas where, possibly a year or two ago, Russian troops would have felt were entirely safe. The incident you're referring to is in a place called Snizhny in the Donetsk area where it appears that 65 drone cadets, according to some of the video filmed from the ground, possibly Chechen cadets from that area of Russia, were hit by a drone, schooling in the art of attack drones in an area, as I say, where Ukraine is finding increased efficiency when it comes to hitting Russian supply lines and troop gatherings.

We've heard a lot about Ukraine's deeper strikes into Russia, Moscow, oil fields around the country, potentially thousands of kilometers at times that they're able to fire these drones. But it's the medium range ones hitting Russian supply lines again and again, enabling Ukraine to sort of slow down Russia's advances to, frankly, a crawl or negligible amount in recent weeks or so that are becoming key.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well using today to refer to another strike in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, in which he says 100 or so Russian troops were killed or wounded by another drone strike that seems to have hit a Russian air defense system, causing a massive secondary explosion there as well.

We don't have the Russian defense ministry's response on either part of these claims, but they do form part of this pattern. Ukraine has set a goal that every month it wishes to kill or injure 35,000 Russian troops to essentially stress Russia's ability to field enough troops to the frontlines where they are dying in horrifically large numbers in often futile frontal assaults against Ukrainian positions. Ukraine is using drones to do that. They're finding better success at penetrating Russian air defenses.

The Kremlin increasingly under criticism for not having control of the defense of Russia's skies itself. Look, we're not at this point seeing a moment where Ukraine can be said to be convincingly and irretrievably winning the war here, but certainly the pressures on Russia are significantly greater now than they are on Ukraine, and that in itself is startling. After the 18 months that President Zelenskyy has endured along with Ukraine here of a Russian advance on the battlefield, its key ally, now the Trump administration, but the United States, deeply critical and apparently at times more sympathetic to the Russian point of view.

We're now seeing a moment where Ukraine has managed to salvage from this technological advances, leap forwards in drone technology and other things along the frontline that make up for its massive problems of manpower here and have bought it some time, some breathing room ultimately, and enabled it to slow Russia's advance down to, as I said, something negligible at times.

[13:40:00]

A startling change on the dynamic of the war here as well, one which is putting increased pressure on the Kremlin to explain its end game here.

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Nick Paton Walsh for that report. Still to come, new measures to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus outbreak. Now, all U.S.-bound flights with passengers who were in the affected region have to land at one specific airport. We've got details after a quick break.

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SANCHEZ: Breaking News today in the Ebola outbreak. Flights into the United States with people who've recently been in the part of Africa where Ebola has been spreading must now land at Dulles International Airport, just outside of Washington, D.C.

[13:45:00]

At least 10 CDC staffers will be there to screen them. Here's what Secretary of State, Marco Rubio said a short while ago about the outbreak.

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MARCO RUBIO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Objective number one is to make sure that Ebola never reaches the United States. Objective number two is do what we can to help the people of DRC and neighboring countries so it doesn't spread. And I think we're up to 600 confirmed cases or probably more. We'll learn more about it.

We're providing, I think, we've offered to fund the first 50 clinics that pop up and are ready to step forward. So I wish we would have gotten started on this two weeks ago, that the alert had gone out sooner. I also recognize that the outbreak began in a war-torn country in a very rural area that perhaps doesn't have some of the support networks that some of the other places have.

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SANCHEZ: The World Health Organization says the outbreak is a public health emergency and spreading quickly with nearly 600 suspected Ebola cases and nearly 150 deaths across the DRC and Uganda. The American doctor undergoing treatment for Ebola in Germany right now says he is cautiously optimistic about his recovery according to the international charity that he works for. We're joined now by Dr. Demetre Daskalakis. He's a former Director of the CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Doctor, thank you so much for being with us. First, walk us through how these passengers are going to be screened when they arrive. How does the CDC process them? DEMETRE DASKALAKIS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF CDC NATIONAL CENTER FOR IMMUNIZATION & RESPIRATORY DISEASES: So generally speaking, CDC has several units at many airports where they can evaluate people. They used to be called quarantine centers. They're not called that anymore. And so, this will probably use one of the quarantine centers. And it sounds as if it will then have more staffing than normal to be able to address the intake.

With that said, it's not a perfect strategy. I think we know that generally speaking, this may delay introduction if there is to be one by a few days or weeks. But it's not going to be perfect, given that there's other ways to come into the country other than a flight, even if you've been exposed to Ebola somewhere in DRC.

SANCHEZ: To that point, on Monday, the CDC invoked Title 42 for at least 30 days. How does that help contain the spread, given that there are other aspects to containing it?

DASKALAKIS: Yeah, I mean, I think really the effort should be really focused at dealing with what's happening with Ebola in DRC, and really surging the work that's happening there. I think at the end of the day, things that try to limit people's motion tends not to be very successful, especially when we have folks that can come to the U.S. in multiple ways, that may not be coming in through an airport. So I think ultimately, invoking this authority, I think, may feel like it's doing more than it's actually doing, also given what we know about how the disease spreads.

SANCHEZ: The DRC specifically has seen 17 Ebola outbreaks since 1976. We heard Secretary Rubio there say that this is a rural area that's in a war-torn region. Why is it that that area specifically is so susceptible to this virus?

DASKALAKIS: Yeah, I mean, I think Ebola is a zoonosis. It's something that folks get from exposure to animals. And so, when humans and animals are close together and there's the right virus, you can have transmission. And then you compound that with the fact that in an isolated part of the country that doesn't have great health care, it's hard to understand if there is an outbreak.

I mean, in 2024, we had an outbreak of something that we didn't understand. People were dying and had fevers, and ultimately, it was malaria. But it took a while to figure out, but not this long. So this, I think, is more symptomatic of the fact that the relationships that were so important to the United States for understanding and getting the reconnaissance from other countries about infectious diseases has broken down because of the cuts at USAID and some of the other really downsizing of global health, including leaving the WHO.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, HHS is also shipping this experimental antibody treatment to Germany to help that American doctor and other Americans exposed there to use. What can you tell us about that treatment?

DASKALAKIS: Yeah, monoclonal antibodies are a really important technology in infectious diseases, more sort of growing in prominence. So the idea is it's an antibody that targets part of the virus and it can help mitigate disease. Now, again, it's experimental. And so since we don't really know, this is an experimental use of the drug.

I think what's really important to say is that experimental drugs exist because research is funded. And so, this is the same administration that has decided to downsize NIH and to give infectious diseases a break.

[13:50:00]

And this just speaks to how important it is to have that research and infrastructure continue, so we can have the next monoclonal antibody ready for the next disease threat.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, appreciate that important perspective. Thanks for joining us.

Up next, an update on President Trump's 250-foot arch that is set to alter D.C.'s skyline. Stay with us.

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SANCHEZ: Breaking News into CNN on Capitol Hill. Frustration over the new Anti-Weaponization Fund is derailing attempts by Republicans in the Senate to move forward on their agenda.

[13:55:00]

Let's go live to Manu Raju, who's on the Hill for us. Manu, I guess they're going into recess and not coming back until June.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a major Republican revolt, one of the biggest revolts of Donald Trump's second term here in office over this $1.8 billion fund, the administration dropped on the lap of Washington, announced it earlier this week, saying they would go to people who say that they have been aggrieved by the Biden Justice Department and a lot of concerns among Republican Senators in particular about who could get that money, particularly when it comes to January 6th rioters.

And people could apply for that money, saying that those rioters, particularly ones who were convicted of assaulting law enforcement, that they should not get any of that money. But the Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has fielded an array of criticism from Republican Senators about this plan and have questions about how it would actually be rolled out.

In fact, Blanche was just up here on Capitol Hill, meeting for almost two hours with Republican Senators in what I'm told was a very tense meeting, Republican after Republican raising concerns about it, calling for guardrails on the new program and many saying that the president's agenda will go forward (ph).

Right now, there has been a push by the Senate Majority Leader to cater to what Donald Trump has been demanding (inaudible).

SANCHEZ: I hate that, Manu. The signal is apparently a bit scrambled. We're going to try to fix that and get an update from Manu. But you heard it there, the Breaking News. Senate Republicans, frustration boiling over. They've decided to go on recess instead of figuring out their next steps on the Reconciliation Bill, all over this Anti- Weaponization Fund that the White House is trying to establish. Brianna?

KEILAR: We can talk about something else that is frustrating some folks, and that is President Trump's plans to have the tallest arch in the world built here in D.C. And those plans are now one step closer to becoming a reality. A key agency has officially signed off on a revised design for this huge 250-foot monument.

It's a controversial project. It's one of several that the president has planned here in D.C. that would alter the nation's capital potentially forever. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is with us now with details on this. Tell us about these revised plans.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the revisions, Brianna, don't change the overall structure. It is still a very massive structure. It still will be the tallest arch when it potentially is built in the world. But if you really look at these comparisons between, this is the new proposal and this is the old proposal here, there's really not that much change. You can basically see this.

KEILAR: So let's spread these out, so that people can see it.

(CROSSTALK)

SERFATY: So let's take it through the changes here. Right now, they have taken away four gold lions that were there. They have also taken away --

KEILAR: Five lions, OK.

SERFATY: -- this base that was here. Now it's just straight with the ground. That will give them another eight feet back. And the size of this structure is one that really has been very controversial. The size, how large it is, so close to Arlington National Cemetery. A lot of the Vietnam veteran groups, they're actually in a lawsuit against the administration saying it's so huge, so massive that it really takes away from those soldiers and noting their lives. They also had a planned tunnel underneath that was taken away.

Now, they'll just have crosswalks around it. But overall, I should note that this is a committee, one of two that has to approve this project. This committee, of course, was stacked with Trump allies and loyalists. So it's no surprise that it's getting through. It does have another committee to go through. But as of now, it looks like President Trump will be getting his arch.

It's just a matter of making sure the final things are going through. And the Department of Interior has started some initial ground and soil assessments that they say has to happen. I was out there at the side of the arch last week. And there was a big rig, and it was drilling into the ground. Initial assessments, they say, before final approval. But one more step forward for President Trump to at least aesthetically remake Washington.

KEILAR: Yeah. And I mean, for people who have been here and for people who haven't, this is such an important space that moves from the Lincoln Memorial across Memorial Bridge to Arlington National Cemetery. And there is sort of this -- it is sort of a flat procession as you move through there. This is going to punctuate that sort of promenade so drastically.

I mean, it's going to be huge. The president also, this isn't, as you said, the only thing that he's looking for remaking aesthetically the Capitol here. He just gave an update on the cost of these ongoing renovations to the Reflecting Pool.

SERFATY: Yes, the reflecting pool, the 2,800 feet that's being painted bright American flag blue, those costs have grown, the Department of Interior admits, because the president wants to really accelerate the timeline for it to be completed in line with the nation's 250th anniversary celebration in July. So they have had to really power through that project and coming in the next hour in the 2 p.m. Eastern hour, there is a hearing here in federal court here in D.C. where they are being challenged --