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Trump Says He Won't Be Rushed Into a Deal With Iran Due to the Midterms, He's Not Satisfied With the Proposed Deal; Trump Says Nobody Will Control Strait of Hormuz, It Will Be Open; Iran War Spending Drains U.S. Military Budgets; Trump Again Proves Grip on GOP With Paxton Win in Texas Runoff; at Least One Dead, Nine Missing in Washington State Chemical Tank Rupture. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired May 27, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:40]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump vowing to strike a favorable deal to end the war with Iran, warning though that the regime's efforts to outlast him will not work and that he will not be compelled to act because of the midterm elections.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Plus, an urgent search operation is underway in Washington State. At least one person died. Nine more are still missing after a chemical tank ruptured at a packaging plant.

And then later, rescue divers reaching some of those villagers trapped in a flooded cave in Laos. Now they are preparing them for the journey out. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

President Trump just wrapping up his cabinet meeting at the White House. The president expressing confidence that the U.S. would soon reach an agreement with Tehran, but he said his administration is not yet satisfied with the terms.

Earlier, Iranian state media reported on a draft memo between the two countries claiming that it calls for U.S. forces to withdraw from the vicinity of Iran and end the blockade of Iranian ports. In turn, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month and have a major role in managing marine traffic thereafter.

President Trump pushing back against the report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The Strait's going to be open to everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And who would control it?

TRUMP: It is international waters. Nobody's going to control it. We're going to watch over it. We'll watch over it, but nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody's going to control it. It's international waters and Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Kevin Liptak is live for us from the White House. Kevin, what more did the president say about peace talks with Iran?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: You know, not a whole lot. He really does appear reluctant, appear overeager to try and reach a deal. And I think for that reason, it is somewhat difficult to ascertain where exactly all of these talks stand. You know, four days ago, he said the deal was largely negotiated. Today, he's saying he is not satisfied with the current draft and the negotiations.

He says that Iran is negotiating on fumes, suggesting that they're eager to make a deal. But at the same time, the president is saying that he is willing to go back in militarily if he isn't able to strike an accord. You know, one line from the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, I think just underscored the uncertainty in all of this.

He said that it could be hours or it could be days before they reach a final agreement. I think just lending to some of the uncertainty here. One thing that the president did want to make pretty explicit is that he was not going to feel any pressure, political or otherwise, to reach an agreement.

Here's what he said on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They thought they were going to outwait me. You know, we'll outwait him. He's got the midterms. I don't care about the midterms. Look what happened last night. That was the prelude to the midterms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So the president saying that he doesn't care about the midterms, I think the issue for him here is that the midterms, and by that I mean the voters who will be voting in the midterms, very much do care about the Iran war and the effect that it has had on the economy and on their own pocketbooks. And so that will continue to be, I think, an undercurrent in all of this.

Now, the president did lay out a few explicit points that he would be looking for in the deal. One, he says he is not comfortable with Russia or China taking a shipment of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. That is sort of a red line he seems to be putting out.

He also says that he is not talking at this point about financial relief for Iran, be it sanctions or unfreezing some of their assets. He said, quote, "When they behave, we'll let them have their money." Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Kevin Liptak, live for us at the White House, thank you.

We're joined now by Frank Kendall, former Air Force Secretary. He's the author of the upcoming book, "Lethal Autonomy: The Future of Warfare." Secretary, thank you so much for being with us. President Trump saying when it comes to the Strait that it will be open to everybody. The U.S. will watch over it. How do you see this going? Will Iran forfeit control over the Strait?

FRANK KENDALL, FORMER AIR FORCE SECRETARY: I think to get any other outcome would be almost unacceptable. When we started this war, the Straits were open.

[14:05:00]

If we don't get back at least to that situation, it's a clear loss. And I think it's a very bad precedent to set for other areas of the world where states that neighbor waters that are confined would like to exert some control.

Long-standing international law that these are freedom of navigation through these bodies, and that needs to be a red line for the U.S. We have to have that back.

SANCHEZ: I wonder what you make of the president today saying that he thinks that Gulf allies owe it to us to sign the Abraham Accords, to normalize relations with Israel. It seems like that was far-fetched before the war began, and now it's less likely.

KENDALL: Things were moving in a very positive direction before Hamas launched their attack, their brutal attack on Israel. Israel's response has damaged relations further in the Middle East, I think, with the Arab States. So I don't think this is the time to be talking about that.

I think we need to get to a more stable situation with regard to Gaza and the fighting in Lebanon, and then over time, we can talk about getting back to the Abraham Accords. It's not going to happen immediately.

KEILAR: And that seems to be the expert opinion of so many people that we've spoken to, and yet the president has gone from saying, after we sign the deal with Iran, these allies in the region need to sign the Abraham Accords, to basically, he said today, maybe we won't sign this deal unless they sign the Abraham Accords. So he's shifted, even as these sort of like voices of reason have said, no, there's no way that's going to happen. He's gone the other direction.

And I wonder if you see that as a negotiating tactic or what you see in that.

KENDALL: It's very hard to explain some of the president's comments. He's made a number of pronouncements since this war started, every one of which has been inaccurate.

So talking about, you know, attacking Oman today, for example, bombing them. I don't know how to read some of these things or what his intent is, but I think you have to take almost every single thing he says with a grain of salt.

SANCHEZ: Amid the Iran War, we've learned that the Pentagon is struggling in some cases to carry out routine training and maintenance. There have been limits to training exercises, flight training hours, and training for new recruits within the Navy. Is that something to be concerned about?

KENDALL: Absolutely. Look, nobody programmed for the war in Iran. There's nothing in the budget to cover those costs. And so the services are paying for it largely out of the operations and maintenance costs, which covers their day-to-day operations.

Those funds are about a third of each service's budget. They're basically for the cost of operating during that year, repairing aircraft, paying civilian pay, buying fuel, doing exercises, et cetera. And that's one-year money. If you don't spend that during the year you have it, it's gone. So they will run out.

And in addition to, of course, the cost of the war itself, the Army has been covering National Guard deployments in our cities and covering border activities. So there are bills that need to be paid. And the Army, I know, is leaning forward and starting to stop some of their activities because of this.

I'm not sure if the other services have started to do that yet, but they're all talking about it. And it will become a necessity before too much more time goes by.

SANCHEZ: Secretary Frank Kendall, appreciate the perspective. Thanks for joining us.

KENDALL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, a frantic search underway for nine people missing after a deadly chemical tank rupture at a paper plant in Washington State.

KEILAR: Plus, an incredible moment, five villagers found alive inside a flooded cave in Laos. Now the most difficult and important part of the rescue mission, getting them out after days of being trapped. We're going to talk to an expert cave diver. And President Trump coming out on top in his revenge tour, knocking out incumbent Republican Senator, John Cornyn, in Texas. But could this backfire on Republicans in November? We'll have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:13:32]

KEILAR: Democrats are going to get the matchup that they were hoping for in the Texas Senate race after Republican Ken Paxton resoundingly defeated incumbent Senator, John Cornyn last night. Paxton wasn't the only one who had a good night. A campaign source telling CNN his opponent in November, Democrat James Talarico, raised $600,000 just in the first two hours after Paxton won.

SANCHEZ: Talarico's campaign is already on the attack, highlighting Paxton's long list of scandals, including criminal charges and allegations of infidelity. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We obviously don't expect our elected officials, especially not the top lawyer in Texas, to be charged with a crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's always been on the edge of sort of criminal activity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three felony fraud charges, which have lingered for nine long years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And in between it all, the state's top attorney had a mugshot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are calls for Ken Paxton to step down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paxton is a repugnant character.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ken Paxton is an extremely flawed candidate, and I sense the worst is yet to come about his background.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We're joined now by CNN Chief Political Analyst and former Senior Adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod. David, thanks so much for being with us, especially here in person.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: Do these accusations of corruption resonate with Republican voters, with Texas voters generally?

AXELROD: Well, obviously, yesterday, it worked out well for Paxton, but he has tremendous resonance with that MAGA base within the Republican Party.

[14:15:00]

There's another base within the Republican Party. They're of longstanding sort of establishment, Republicans who I think are less enamored with him. They were the Cornyn Republicans. And with independents, his numbers are very, very bad.

So, you know, you said at the beginning that Democrats were -- they got the guy they wanted. There are two groups that got the guy they wanted, if you consider the president a group, him and Democrats. I think there are a lot of Republicans who are deeply concerned about this. They think they can win because Texas is Texas, but they expect they're going to have to spend a fortune to try and do it because he's such a heavy lift.

KEILAR: And Talarico is trying to make Paxton own this. He's trying to label him as the most corrupt candidate in America. Here's what Paxton said, though, about Talarico last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON, (R) U.S. SENATE NOMINEE: My opponent is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated. He's even running a vegan campaign, whatever that is.

(LAUGH)

PAXTON: And others refer to him simply as Low-T Talarico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: OK, so what's worse in Texas, you know, to be the tofu guy or the guy who you can try to peg with corruption?

AXELROD: Yeah, no, look, this is their -- I mean, Paxton's people are doing what is customary in the modern Republican Party, which is to go cultural and try and disqualify someone on those grounds. I mean, Talarico, just for the record, is a meat eater.

But I think the comeback is, for Talarico, do you care what I eat or do you care what the cost of the food you pay for is? Or the guy on the other side who's been eating at the trough of public taxpayer funds and so on all his career. And I think there's, you know, plenty of back and forth.

I think the low-T thing is interesting. I think what they're trying to, I mean, whatever insinuations it carries, I think weakness is the undertone of the whole thing. That's the message of it. I may be corrupt, but I'm strong. He's weak. And we've seen that there's a familiar ring to that.

SANCHEZ: Obviously, Texas would be a dream for Democrats to win. It's been several cycles that they've been running Senate candidates who have come fairly close. I think Beto O'Rourke --

AXELROD: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, he got within three points of defeating --

AXELROD: In 2018, of Ted Cruz.

SANCHEZ: Ted Cruz.

AXELROD: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: Do you think the electorate in Texas has changed enough for Democrats to change the (inaudible)?

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: I mean, that is an open question. Texas is still a tough state. But remember, you know, President Trump won a double-digit lead last time, but he also got a larger-than-usual support from Hispanic voters, who are among the most discouraged now about the Republican Party. Very, very attuned to the economy, feeling it, very unhappy about some of the elements of the immigration policy.

So that's a big problem that Paxton is going to have to deal with. And, you know, I do think that there are going to be Republicans who supported John Cornyn, who may not vote for Talarico, but what's going to be interesting is you have a governor's race there. Let's look at the drop-off from the governor's race to the Senate race.

How many of those Republicans are going to leave that Senate race blank? I think it could be a large number.

KEILAR: OK, so can you game something out for us then? If we're going to look at that O'Rourke three-point spread, consider a few different pair-offs here. Ted Cruz as a candidate versus Ken Paxton.

AXELROD: Yeah.

KEILAR: Talarico compared to O'Rourke. And the timing, that race favoring Dems versus Republicans, just sort of the atmosphere of it.

AXELROD: Yeah.

KEILAR: Let's go through that. What do you think?

AXELROD: Let's go to the last thing first. I think the environment is at least as bad or worse than it was in 2018 --

KEILAR: OK.

AXELROD: -- because of the economy and because of the president's numbers, which continue to fall. And I'm not sure, it's getting late for him to correct that. So I think the environment is quite good. Beto O'Rourke was a good candidate.

Talarico is a uniquely talented candidate in many ways. He's very fluent. He's also, you know, he's a seminarian and he speaks of his faith very openly. I think that is advantageous to him. He is an Austin- based candidate. He gets out into those rural areas. He gets into those Hispanic areas. He has to -- he has to make inroads there. But I think he's a very competitive candidate.

What was your third? Oh, the candidate --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Cruz versus Paxton.

AXELROD: You know, Paxton, you know, Cruz was actually, people forget, he was actually net positive with voters in the state. It wasn't by much. Paxton is underwater by five to ten points and very, very poorly thought of among independent voters who are going to have a lot to say here.

[14:20:00]

And whether those Republican voters, his people argue, he gets the MAGA vote out because that's been a big problem for Republicans when Trump isn't on the ballot. We'll see about that. But again, I think there are going to be other Republican voters who either won't come out or will simply leave him off of the ballot.

So I think this is, I wouldn't rate this as the top, but I think that this is now in play in a way that it might not have been.

KEILAR: So interesting. David, thanks so much for being with us.

AXELROD: Always good to be with you guys.

KEILAR: Still to come, we have an update on that deadly chemical plant rupture in Washington State as rescue teams are searching for nine people who are missing.

SANCHEZ: Plus, a judge blocking West Point from enforcing a policy that restricted faculty speech. We're going to talk to the professor behind this lawsuit straight ahead.

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[14:25:29]

SANCHEZ: Recovery efforts are underway in Washington State following a deadly chemical tank rupture. At least one person was killed, nine others are still missing after a large vat holding hazardous materials buckled on Tuesday morning at a paper and packaging plant. There are major concerns about the stability of the tank and the caustic chemicals that are still inside.

Let's go to CNN National Correspondent, Nick Watt, who's monitoring the story for us. Nick, what updates do you have on recovery efforts right now?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we were expecting an update about 90 minutes ago. That came and went, we heard nothing. But what we do know is since first light, officials there have been trying to stabilize that huge tank.

You used the word recovery rather than rescue, and I'm afraid to say that appears to be what is happening here, that they are trying to stabilize that tank so they can get in and recover the remains of the missing.

Now yesterday, this happened early in the morning about 7:15, ten people were taken to the hospital suffering burns, issues with their airways, issues with their eyes, one person died. One of those ten people transported was a firefighter with chemical burns, treated and released.

Nine people, Boris, unaccounted for. And here is the issue. That huge tank is in danger of further collapse, but also here's what happened.

That tank was full of something called white liquor, which is a very strong caustic alkaline, so strong that it is used to reduce wood chips to pulp. So that escaped from the tank, about half a million gallons escaped from the tank. A fire hydrant was also blown up, so you had 500,000 gallons of this terrible caustic chemical in water flowing around that site.

So they are today trying to stabilize, trying to get in. We will hopefully get some updates shortly about where they are with that. But right now, Boris, we're looking at nine people still unaccounted for, and I'm afraid to say hope for them rapidly diminishing.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, we just hope that that delay and an update from officials means that they've got some answers, or at least they're getting close to them.

Nick Watt, from Los Angeles, thank you so much. Still to come, a complete fabrication, the White House pushing back on Iranian claims about an emerging deal. A Democrat on the Armed Services Committee will join us in just moments.

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