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Trump Prepares to Leave for Critical China Trip; Ceasefire with Iran on "Massive Life Support"; Dem Lawmakers Hear Testimony from Epstein Survivors; Transportation Secretary Duffy's Reality Show Draws Criticism; Iranian Regime May Be Linked to Recent Antisemitic Attacks. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired May 12, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, President Trump expected to leave shortly for his trip to China and the summit with President Xi Jinping. The two are expected to take on some rather tough topics, including Taiwan, trade issues, and the Iran war.

David Sanger is joining us right now. He's CNN's Global Affairs Analyst, also the author of a new book entitled China's Rise -- called "The New Cold Wars." He's in Beijing getting ready for this summit. David, is the Iran war going to be the elephant in the room right from the get-go?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think it will, Wolf. And apologies for not being on camera, but it just arrived here. And we're just getting the lay of the land. This is not the summit, Wolf, that I think the president initially envisioned. When he put it off -- you may recall he was supposed to come here in early April -- he thought that the war in Iran would be over, that the Strait would be open, the Strait of Hormuz, that because China brings in 30 percent of its gas and oil through the Strait, that that would be behind him. And of course, none of that has come to pass.

So, the big issues that he was going to take up trade issues, of course he wants to get lots of purchases of American commodities, I'm sure he'll announce those, Boeing parts and all that, that will happen. But I think that the bigger national security issues that have divided the two countries and really led them deep into this new Cold War, I have my doubts about how deeply he will be going into those.

BLITZER: You know, David, President Trump said again today that he has a great relationship with President Xi Jinping and with China. But will he have much to show for it after this summit?

SANGER: Well, it's sort of interesting. That's the president's first response whenever you ask him any question about China. I have a great relationship with Xi Jinping. And so, he is very much of the view that you work things out with a country the size and complexity of China by having a leader-to-leader conversation, and that their chemistry is what it's all about. And certainly, that can be important. But the relationship is so complex. The supply chains, the military competition, the competition over artificial intelligence, over nuclear weapons, you'd like to see some institutions in place that began to manage this competition. And I fear that by over- personalizing it, there maybe is a little less discussion of how it is that you take away permanently or come up with a process to permanently handle those irritants.

BLITZER: President Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was on, quote, "life support" and is considering resuming military operations. Will Iran's foot dragging push Trump back into what's being described as a full-blown war?

SANGER: Well, you know, we were in that for 38 days, and it's not clear that it accomplished the kind of political concessions that the president was envisioning.

[11:35:00]

If you look at what the objectives that he laid out the night the war started on February 28th, and how few of them he achieved with the military action the first time, I think you've got to ask the question, is that the way that you're going to accomplish these goals? Why would he expect a different result unless there really was civilizational erasure as he threatened a few weeks ago?

I also think he'd be under considerable pressure from his own party, from Congress, because we're now past the 60-day limit in the War Powers Act. It would be a lot harder for him to start this back up.

BLITZER: So, there's a lot on the agenda during this upcoming summit. I know you're already there in China. From what you've seen at least so far, what's the prevailing view of Trump and the U.S. right now?

SANGER: You know, I think that President Trump comes to this a bit weaker because of the inability to deal with the Iran situation than he imagined at first. When he was here in 2017 as president, I think he was probably in a stronger position. That said, Xi Jinping's not in a super strong position either, given the troubles that the Chinese economy has run into in recent times. So, he doesn't quite have the latitude, particularly on the economic issues, that I think he may have as well. An odd moment when both major economic and technological superpowers are feeling a bit vulnerable and weak.

BLITZER: David Sanger in China for us. Thank you very, very much. We'll stay in close touch. Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Wolf, coming up here in the Situation Room, a congressional hearing underway in West Palm Beach as House Democrats continue investigating Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. What we're hearing from the survivors and the witnesses who are testifying today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:00] BROWN: Let's return to that emotional hearing in Palm Beach, Florida, where survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse are testifying before Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee and their probe of the convicted sex offender. Here's what one of them, Jena Lisa Jones, said about the mishandling of the Epstein files.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENA-LISA JONES, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: The Department of Justice released documents that exposed our names, our Social Security numbers, and deeply personal information. Survivors and identities were made public. Husbands learned about their wives' abuse for the first time. Children learned about the abuse of their mothers. From reporters, from strangers on the internet, and in some cases, from other kids at school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN's MJ Lee is back with us. So, we've heard this emotional testimony, and we just wanted to point out these are just the Democrats from House Oversight, right? No Republicans?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: Just the Democrats. These are Democrats on the House Oversight Committee clearly wanting to continue keeping the spotlight on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, in part by giving the survivors an opportunity to tell their stories. The survivors' portion of the testimony began with Maria Farmer, who, of course, is the first known Epstein survivor to have reported to law enforcement her abuse going back to the 1990s.

It really helps capture a sort of lack of actions by the law enforcement going back so many decades. She wasn't able to testify in person because of the very many serious health issues that she is currently suffering from. We also heard from family members of Virginia Giuffre, other survivors like Dani Bensky, Jena-Lisa Jones.

And then we heard some compelling testimony from a woman named Rosa, who isn't sharing her last name and who hasn't publicly shared her story prior to today. She says back in 2009, she was an aspiring model who came over to the U.S. from Uzbekistan, was eventually introduced to Jeffrey Epstein, and then she said that she was repeatedly raped and molested by Jeffrey Epstein while he was on house arrest.

Which -- I mean, take that in for a second. The fact that this man, who had been already convicted for soliciting prostitution from a minor during his jail sentence while he was on house arrest, was able to continue his abuse. And, you know, she got very emotional while she was talking about the additional trauma of then recently seeing her name appear in the Epstein files hundreds of times when she had meant for herself to be a Jane Doe and remain anonymous.

Now, the section we are watching now is sort of the accountability section of this so-called field hearing, where lawmakers, the Democrats, are asking survivors and experts who are on the panel what accountability looks like. You know, they are saying they want the DOJ to release the rest of the millions of the files that they have not released yet, and they want to see people be prosecuted. They want to see people be brought in.

One last thing that I've heard from several people on this panel is this idea of clemency for Ghislaine Maxwell. She, of course, is the one person in the U.S. who has ever been prosecuted for anything related to Jeffrey Epstein. They are saying they absolutely do not want to see that happen. Of course, President Trump has never explicitly ruled that out.

BROWN: All right. MJ Lee, thank you so much. Wolf.

BLITZER: While Americans are dealing with surging gas prices due to the war with Iran, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is encouraging people to take a road trip. The secretary is releasing a YouTube reality series where he drives around the country with his family. Duffy says the show was funded by a nonprofit and no tax dollars were spent.

[11:45:00]

But the reality series is drawing criticism for its timing as well as its sponsors, which include companies like United Airlines, Shell and Toyota. CNN's Tom Foreman has more on the backlash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: What a beautiful family.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another reality show, another road trip. But it's a familiar path for this family.

TRUMP: Taking a little trip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TRUMP: Little trip all over.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his wife Rachel Campos Duffy of Fox News met on MTV's Road Rules All Stars and they and their nine children are channeling that past in this five- part YouTube series.

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We're encouraging everyone to go take a road trip to celebrate America's 205th. Welcome to Montana.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But the rollout of their made for TV trip through at least 17 states is hitting rough roads with serious safety questions about air travel and several incidents including a Frontier plane striking and killing a pedestrian over the weekend, a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship and gasoline prices way up amid the U.S. fight with Iran. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg posted, this is brutally out of touch. Regular families can't afford road trips anymore because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof.

DUFFY: Someone has to pay for this operation. I got to go to work. FOREMAN (voice-over): Duffy says no taxpayer dollars were involved. Neither he nor his family were paid and sponsors picked up the production tab. But looking at some of those corporate backers, government watchdogs warn that the secretary is enjoying a road trip that appears to have been funded by the very industries his agency oversees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wore my boots that John Rich gave me.

DUFFY: They're very sexy.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The Duffys are push posting that the radical miserable left just hates the show because it's too wholesome, it's too patriotic, it's too joyful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think mud's kind of mad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you're mad.

DUFFY: We're not going to fight on this trip. Put your seatbelts on.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Still, critics say the power couple is on thin ice. Although the project was reportedly shot mainly on weekends and holidays, it took seven months.

DUFFY: There's a crisis and Pete Buttigieg decides to ignore it.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And back when Buttigieg led transportation, both the Duffys attacked him for doing anything other than his government work, even for taking paternity leave when his twins were born.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the hell was he doing? And we were in the middle of a supply chain time --

DUFFY: Vacation time, right? So, he's not doing his job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.

FOREMAN: So, some who heard the Duffy's complaints back then say what they're hearing now sounds an awful lot like hypocrisy no matter where you go on the map.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:00]

BROWN: Turning now to a Situation Room special report involving a CNN investigation into a string of antisemitic violence across Europe. There are these growing concerns the attacks could be linked to the Iranian regime. The story from CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 17 claims of attacks targeting mostly Jewish sites in seven weeks. We've been investigating Iran's possible links to these incidents, an investigation that has led us to a stunning discovery of something so sinister that, as we'll show you, is happening right in the open.

KARADSHEH: They're asking me if I have access to Zionist individuals or assets.

RABBI YEHUDA BLACK, KENTON UNITED SYNAGOGUE, LONDON: It was just a matter of time that one of our communities was going to come on to attack.

KARADSHEH: We saw him taken away by an ambulance.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Days after the war in Iran began, firebomb and arson attacks hit buildings, including synagogues, Jewish centers and schools in Europe. A previously unheard-of group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Righteous, claimed the attacks in not-so- sophisticated videos and statements. We found that the claims seem to first appear on these Telegram channels that are associated with Iranian-backed Iraqi groups.

A source close to Kata'ib Hizballah, the most powerful of Iraqi Shia paramilitary groups that works closely with the IRGC, confirmed to us its links Ashab al-Yamin and told us some of its members are Iraqi. Security experts believe the group is just a front for the IRGC. British counterterrorism police are investigating Iran's potential links to the London attacks and whether the regime may be hiring criminal proxies to carry them out, possibly recruiting people online.

KARADSHEH: When you think of online recruitment by foreign intelligence services, you might assume that's something happening in the deep, dark corners of the Internet. But take a look at what we found.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): This Telegram channel, in English and Hebrew, called VIPEmployment, says it's recruiting "high-paid agents" it claims for Iranian intelligence. If you're ready to take the next step, it says, hit the start button. Undercover, Producer Flo and I started two separate chats, exchanging direct messages over several days with these accounts.

FLORENCE DAVEY-ATTLEE, CNN FIELD PRODUCER: So, my conversation begins with someone calling themselves Sina. They quickly ask me lots of questions about myself, trying to get to know me. And then they assign me a task.

[11:50:00]

Two posters, anti-Trump, anti-war posters. They ask me to film myself putting them up on the streets of London and offered me $2 per poster paid in crypto. And later on in the conversation, they seem to coach me on how to avoid CCTV cameras. Do it in a place where there are no surveillance cameras, they say. At one point, I question, how can I confirm you are Islamic Republic intelligence, as you say you are? And they say, the work I assigned you is against the policies of the filthy Zionist regime in America.

KARADSHEH: With me, they get straight into it. What are my capabilities? What action can you take against Zionist individuals or assets? Do you have access to specific individuals or information, they ask. I ask what they mean by access to specific individuals or information.

People who work in security and military agencies, such as the Shin Bet, the Army and the Mossad, they say. And I ask them if they're only recruiting people in Israel. They said no, we can hire anyone who can harm Israeli interests or individuals.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): And with those words, we decided to end the conversation there. But others appear to have taken the bait. We found VIPEmployment, a channel with the same name, is alleged to have been used to recruit Israelis to spy for Iran, referenced in this indictment and other official documents.

The Israeli men were given initiation tasks very similar to the one we were given by the Telegram account. From there, prosecutors say the men were tasked with filming government and military sites in exchange for money.

One of them, an IDF reservist, was even offered more than $30,000 to assassinate his commander. We can't confirm any links between VIPEmployment and the recent anti-semitic attacks in Europe, but the one thing they seem to have in common is Iran.

Here in the U.K., the wave of attacks has left the small Jewish community feeling more vulnerable than ever. One of the group's targets in London, the Kenton United Synagogue, attacked they claim for being "a center of Zionist influence" and its rabbi, a key instrument of Zionism.

BLACK: Just take you in here.

KARADSHEH: Oh, the smell.

BLACK: Yeah, it's quite -- it's quite pungent, isn't it? And you can actually --

KARADSHEH: Still smell the fire days after.

BLACK: 10 days after and it's still quite pungent, isn't it? They came from the outside. They smashed this window in and they threw a firebomb in here.

You can see the damage that that's been caused.

KARADSHEH: Wow. I mean, how did you feel when you walked in and you saw that? BLACK: I was really upset, obviously. I mean, it's only a medical room. I mean, we can replace it. We can redecorate it and everything else.

But what could have transpired, that is really hard, you know?

KARADSHEH (voice-over): With anti-semitism at record highs worldwide, Rabbi Black says the attacks were a shock, but not a surprise.

BLACK: My biggest concern is that it has to stop. People have to realize that what's happening elsewhere is happening elsewhere. But what's happening over here is plain anti-semitism.

KARADSHEH: A 17-year-old British national pleaded guilty to arson without endangering life. In a written statement, he apologized. He said he has nothing against the Jewish people and said that he didn't know that this was a synagogue.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Many of the suspects here and elsewhere in Europe are teenagers. Authorities are warning anyone considering getting involved in these attacks for quick cash, they will be "used once and thrown away." But it seems these attacks may have already opened the floodgates, emboldening others to follow.

On our way back from the synagogue, we noticed a heavy police presence.

KARADSHEH: As we were making our way, we heard that people had been stabbed here. And as we approached the police lines, we could see at the time the suspect was still on the ground, surrounded by the police.

KARADSHEH (voice-over): Two visibly Jewish men were stabbed. From the shadows, Ashab al-Yamin claimed the attack without providing evidence of links to the suspect, who, according to police, has a history of mental illness and serious violence. Claim, confuse, intimidate and inspire, that's all part of their tactics, leaving so many in this community bracing for even darker days ahead.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: The Iranian embassy in London denied having any link with or involvement in the London attack, saying in a statement, such baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran lack credible evidence and appear to serve narrow political agendas and to mislead public opinion and distract from the real root cause of terrorism and violent extremism. Wolf.

BLITZER: And before we go, we want to pass along news of the very sad passing of Abe Foxman.

[12:00:00]