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CNN Headlines: Sources: DOJ Launches Criminal Probe Into Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll; U.S. And Iran Launch New Strikes, Testing Fragile Ceasefire; Rubio: "Cannot" Allow Ebola Cases Into United States. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired May 28, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:22]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the woman who previously accused President Trump of sexual assault. We dig into exactly what this probe is targeting.
And a new twist in the case of an American woman whose husband says she went missing while they were boating in the Bahamas. What's leading to a new search there?
And --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five alive, we find them.
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SMITH: Rescuers found five of the people trapped in a cave for a week. Now the question is, when can they get out of there?
And would you pay 10,000 bucks for a World Cup ticket? An investigation is looking into those sky high prices.
We'll get to the pitch in a little bit. Good morning, everyone. I'm Brad Smith. This is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Glad that you're with us this morning.
Let's get this started. We begin with a story first reported by CNN. The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter, she is the former magazine columnist who accused President Trump of sexual assault, and she successfully won millions in civil damages, which the president is appealing.
Sources say the investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury. CNN's Paula Reid explains what this is all about.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: The investigation into E. Jean Carroll is just the latest in a series of moves that the Justice Department has made against President Trump's long term adversaries. Now, this investigation, we're told, focuses on a 2022 deposition where Carroll said that she had received no outside funding. But her lawyers later informed the judge that she had received funding from billionaire Reid Hoffman for legal fees and other expenses.
Now, ahead of the trial, the judge found no issue with her credibility and blocked Trump lawyers from even being able to ask about this funding issue. Now, this case, we are told, is being handled out of the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has been recused from this case because of his work on a prior Carroll related appeal. We're told he has not been involved in any meetings about this or had any discussions about this investigation. I'm told that it was referred to Chicago because that is where Reid Hoffman's nonprofit is located.
Now, Carroll, who is 82 years old, is currently embroiled in multiple legal battles with President Trump. But juries have awarded her millions of dollars in damages. But President Trump is appealing those judgments. His appeal of a $5 million judgment in a sexual abuse case has been pending before the Supreme Court for quite some time. The court has deferred 12 times on whether it will hear that case.
Now, Carroll's attorneys declined to comment on this reporting.
Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
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SMITH: Thank you, Paula.
The U.S. military launched new strikes against Iran, testing the fragile ceasefire. These new strikes targeted what officials described as a threat to American forces and commercial shipping. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard says that it has already retaliated by targeting an American air base.
Here's what President Trump said about where the peace talks currently stand.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran is very much intent. They want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven't gotten there. We're not satisfied with it, but we will be -- we will be. Either that or we'll have to just finish the job. They're negotiating on fumes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The president also said that he's in no rush for a deal and rejected any plan for Iran and U.S. ally Oman to jointly control traffic through the strait.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Iran wants control of the Strait of Hormuz. Would you accept a short term deal that allows Iran and Oman to control the strait, and would they have to open it immediately, or would you be open to that happening over a period of time?
TRUMP: The strait is going to be open to everybody.
REPORTER: And who would control it.
TRUMP: It's international waters. Nobody's going to control it. We're going to watch over it. Well watch over it. But nobody's going to control it.
Oman will behave just like everybody else or we'll have to blow them up. They understand that. They'll be fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Iran says 23 vessels passed through the strait under what it calls security protection, while ships from so-called hostile countries remain blocked.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a warning about the recent Ebola outbreak that's going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.
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[05:05:04]
SMITH: The administration is making plans to send Americans who have been exposed to the outbreak, to health facilities in Kenya. Those facilities provide care ranging from quarantine to critical medical intervention. The U.S. already has its own specialized network of hospitals that are highly equipped to treat Ebola patients, and some experts say they would be much better suited to handle the situation. Critics warn the plan could be unethical and illegal, and potentially lead to awful consequences.
This week's rupture of a chemical tank in Washington state could be the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern state history, according to the governor there. Crews are searching for nine people believed to be dead after that incident at a paper plant, bringing the death toll to 11. Eight others have been injured and there are now new concerns, as the officials are saying, that the 900,000 gallon tank rupture has sent contamination into the Columbia River. That's considered the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest.
Federal investigators are trying to figure out how this happened, but so far, they have no public health concerns outside of the scene of the accident.
Here's Washington state's governor.
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GOV. BOB FERGUSON (D), WASHINGTON: We're bracing ourselves for this being the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history. When you have a tragedy of that scale, the impacts on individuals, on families and on communities is profound.
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SMITH: And as that unfolds, the community is grieving the loss.
Gilbert Bernal has been identified as one of the victims. He recently welcomed his first grandson. His daughter says her heart is shattered and that her son will always know how incredible his grandpa was.
And another story that we are tracking. The U.S. Coast Guard is planning a new search in the Bahamas for the Michigan woman who went missing at sea last month. Fifty-five-year-old Lynette Hooker disappeared after her husband, Brian, said she fell from a boat in rough waters, and now the coast guard has asked officials in the Bahamas for permission to allow divers to search new locations, according to a U.S. official. That official said location data recovered from Hooker's devices contradicts his early statements. They've already been conducting a criminal investigation into Lynette Hooker's disappearance and declined to comment. Brian Hooker's attorney also declined to comment. He has denied any wrongdoing in connection with his wife's disappearance, and he was arrested and questioned by Bahamian police and released without being charged.
Vice President J.D. Vance is in Colorado this morning. He is set to deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force academy. More than 900 cadets will commission as officers in the air force and space force at Falcon Stadium.
Well, this has been a gripping story as divers have located five of seven stranded men in a flooded cave. Now, divers in Laos say that they are cautiously optimistic that they can start bringing them out soon. Cheers erupted both inside and outside the cave when the men were found. The group has been stranded now for more than a week. You can see their smiles illuminated by the headlights worn by the rescue team.
Rescuers say that they received medical checks and soft food while they scrambled to come up with a plan to get the group of the one -- group out of that 1,000-foot tunnel safely. They are still searching for the other two missing people.
We've got lots more to come on. CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. A casino sign on fire. But what, you don't see a man stuck up there leading to a dangerous rescue? We've got the details.
Plus, remember the case of a teen accused of killing his stepsister while on a cruise ship? Well, a judge made a big decision about what happens to him now. We've got those details. And tell me what you think about this A.I. making all of your
decisions for picking and buying stocks. Marinate over it. We'll be back. We'll talk about it.
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[05:13:37]
SMITH: The runoff is over and the race is on for U.S. Senate in Texas. Democrat James Talarico kicked off a five day campaign swing last night with a rally in Houston. He's going to be facing the Republican state attorney general, Ken Paxton, in November's general election.
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JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: They are afraid of this movement that we are building here in Texas. They're going to throw everything they've got at us. They've already called me a radical leftist. They've already called me a fake Christian.
They've even called me a vegan. And those are -- those are fighting words in the state of Texas. You know, I'm an eighth generation Texan. I've been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton's first indictment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: After Paxton's resounding primary win on Tuesday, a CNN KFILE review has found Republican operatives are now working to delete Internet attack ads against him from his bruising runoff with outgoing Senator John Cornyn.
Well, Matthew Perry's personal assistant has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for his role in the actor's death. He pleaded guilty to injecting Perry with a fatal dose of ketamine that led to his overdose in 2023. Perry legally took the drug for depression, though he wanted more than his doctor prescribed.
[05:15:01]
Now, in the final days of his life, his live-in assistant was administering the medication six to eight times a day. But an attorney for that assistant says he was just following orders.
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ALAN EISNER, ATTORNEY FOR KENNETH IWAMASA: But we feel that the sentence didn't reflect those substantial mitigating circumstances. The power dynamic here was disproportionate. One person had the power and one person had no power.
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SMITH: This puts an end to a long legal saga after Perry was discovered unresponsive by his assistant at his home in L.A. Four others have been charged and sentenced in connection to his death. Today's weather express starts in Texas. Just take a look at this.
Severe storms overwhelmed emergency crews Wednesday. Dangerous lightning downed power lines and high water rescues threaten communities around Corpus Christi. Forecasters say the Texas will start drying out today, but not so much for the east.
CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam has your forecast.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's this cold front right here that's going to separate the very hot, warm and muggy conditions to the south and the much more pleasant weather across the North and East, including the Midwest. So that's the dividing line between the two air masses. Anything south of this, were going to have a wash, rinse, repeat type weather pattern similar to what we've experienced over the past several days. And it's likely to last through the better part of the weekend as well.
Rain and showers will pop up through the course of the afternoon. A few thunderstorms possible as well. Atlanta to Jacksonville, westward to Birmingham, and even into parts of Mississippi.
We're also monitoring the potential for some scattered storms across the pacific northwest, specifically for the inland mountain communities. We have a storm system that's moving down the West Coast that's going to help inject some moisture into that region, and some of those thunderstorms could become severe by the afternoon. So look at how this unfolds over the next 48 hours or so. You can see those thunderstorms popping up throughout the course of the day, dying out at nighttime, and then rebuilding through the afternoon heat of the sun. That will be the name of the game from Charleston to Atlanta and southward into the Florida peninsula.
Look at the rainfall totals, though. So, any of these slow moving thunderstorms could dump another two to three inches of rain locally higher amounts. So can't rule out the potential for some localized flash flooding, especially considering this is rain on top of what's already fallen. So keep that in mind. Lighter totals the further north you travel.
Here's a look at those temperatures. We've got balmy conditions in Atlanta, 85. Remember the humidity is very high. But compare that to a much more comfortable 75 in New York, 68 in Boston. And as we go forward in time, you'll see the heat continue over the central parts of the country. But a cold front will keep the cooler weather relatively across the northeast as we head into the first parts of June.
Back to you.
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SMITH: All right. Thank you, Derek.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, new screening options could be available for what's considered the deadliest form of cancer for young adults. We've got the details you need to know.
And it's about to be fight night at the White House. Those stories and much more on the other side of the break.
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[05:22:55]
SMITH: Former First Lady Jill Biden says that she was worried that her husband, then President Joe Biden, was suffering a stroke during the 2024 presidential debate. Her comments are a rare public acknowledgment that the former president delivered a disastrous debate performance nearly two years after the fact. Now the poor showing it ultimately did doom his bid for a second term. The former first lady opened up about those moments in an interview with CBS News.
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INTERVIEWER: Were you horrified as you saw it unfold?
JILL BIDEN, FORMER FIRST LADY: I wasn't horrified. I was frightened because I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since.
INTERVIEWER: Never since?
BIDEN: Yes or since.
INTERVIEWER: You've never seen him --
BIDEN: Never, no.
INTERVIEWER: What happened?
BIDEN: I don't know what happened. I mean, when I -- as I watched it, I thought, oh my God, he's having a stroke. And it scared me to death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: The interview comes as Joe Biden prepares for a book tour to promote her forthcoming memoir about her time in the White House. Well, it could become much easier and much less invasive for you to get tested for colon and rectal cancer. In new, updated guidelines, the American Cancer Society says it's giving the green light for people to take a blood test instead of the more common screenings, like a colonoscopy.
CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard has the latest.
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JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: For the first time, like you said, the American cancer society is recommending blood testing. But it says colonoscopy is still the gold standard. And this recommendation is only for people who otherwise would not have been screened because they simply can't or outright decline colonoscopy or other visual exams or stool testing. So the blood test were talking about here is called the shield test. It was FDA approved in 2024. And if you go this route, it's recommended every three years.
Another major update, the American cancer society has also added two additional stool tests to its screening recommendations. It has added an upgraded version of the stool test Cologuard, called Cologuard Plus, and a new FDA approved test called ColoSense. And these stool tests, again, are recommended every three years.
But the American Cancer Society said it's doing here is it says one in three people who are eligible for screening still have not been screened. So by adding these additional tests, they want to help give more options to those people who otherwise would not have been screened.
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SMITH: What a breakthrough there.
Straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, E. Jean Carroll, the woman who famously sued President Trump two times, is now under investigation by Trump's Department of Justice. What they say that she did, straight ahead.
Plus, there's this. Oh my gosh, that diver is helping lead the rescue operation that has captured the world's attention. We'll hear just how difficult it is during the search for those trapped in a cave.
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