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Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund; Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) is Interviewed about the Anti-Weaponization Fund; Americans Hit the Roads as Gas Prices Near All-Time Highs; Millions of Americans Expected to Fly this Holiday Weekend; Dr. Angela Hewlett is Interviewed about Ebola. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 22, 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]

LAURA ULRICH, INDEED HIRING LAB DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH IN NORTH AMERICA: Workers as they face really massive retirement rates between now and about 2032.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh my goodness. All right, growing up is hard to do.

All right, Laura Ulrich, thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

DANN FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, a growing Republican revolt against the president. The GOP divided over his anti-weaponization fund, his ballroom and more. So, the question is, is the president derailing his own party's agenda?

Plus, Stephen Colbert takes his final bow on "The Late Show." The star-studded goodbye show and Colbert's late night legacy up ahead.

And the FAA asked and gamers, well, they answer, flooding the agency with applications to become the next generation of air traffic controllers.

John, Kate and Sara, they're all out today. I'm Danny Freeman, with Fredricka Whitfield. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Breaking this morning, sources tell CNN the Trump administration has no plans to make any imminent changes to the president's $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund, despite the revolt from Republicans on Capitol Hill. Now, the fund would use taxpayer money to compensate people who claim they've been treated unfairly by the Justice Department. That could potentially include January 6th defendants who attacked police officers.

And it's creating all sorts of blowback among a growing number of Senate Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I do not support the weaponization fund, as it has been described.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need more information on it.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I just don't know how this puppy dog will work.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): This is -- I mean, this is just stupid on stilts. This is bad policy. It's bad timing and it's bad politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: This fight, by the way, now threatening to derail other major parts of the president's agenda. The Senate GOP called off a vote on a separate measure, a bill to provide tens of billions of dollars for ICE and Border Patrol before leaving town for the Memorial Day recess.

CNN's Betsy Klein is live this morning at the White House.

Betsy, again, these senators really are not messing around.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: No, Danny, they're not. And we've seen President Trump has largely been able to keep his party in line during his second term. But these Senate Republicans are in an open rebellion after the Trump administration announced this $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, and now a major legislative priority for this White House is hanging in the balance. You'll recall earlier this week the Justice Department unveiled this fund that it said would provide compensation to allies of the president, who they say were unfairly investigated by the Justice Department.

Senate Republicans immediately lashing out. And you saw just there some of those lawmakers, including Senator Susan Collins, who said she doesn't support it, as described. Bill Sassidy calling it a slush fund. We also heard from Senator Mitch McConnell, who described it as utterly stupid and morally wrong.

The White House in damage control mode, deploying Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to Capitol Hill yesterday, where he got an earful. And it was, by all accounts, an incredibly tense meeting.

So, now it is unclear whether a broader immigration policy bill, which is going to provide tens of billions of dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Border Patrol, is going to have the 60 votes that it needs to pass the Senate. There's so much frustration that this weaponization fund has been linked to that bill, but we know that there are no plans as of now to make any imminent changes to the anti-weaponization fund, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Now, the House is in wait and see mode. Listen to what Speaker Mike Johnson told our colleague Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's so much opposition to this. Why don't you just drop the weaponization? REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): It's not my call. We're waiting to see what

the Senate sends us. They're working through that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, all of this comes after President Trump has taken aim at incumbent Republican senators. And we've seen that play out as Bill Cassidy lost a primary over the weekend. And also President Trump opting against endorsing Senator John Cornyn, who's very beloved amongst his colleagues there.

Now, Senate Republicans are also rising up against funding for President Trump's ballroom, a provision that was expected to provide millions of dollars in security funding, now is expected to be stripped, Danny.

FREEMAN: Oh, man, the high stakes ahead of this holiday weekend in D.C.

Betsy Klein, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Danny, joining me right now is Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Ohio.

Great to see you, Congresswoman.

REP. JOYCE BEATTY (D-OH): Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So, how are you interpreting this Republican revolt after Republican senators grilled the acting attorney general and called this fund stupid on stilts, among other things.

[09:05:11]

BEATTY: Let me just say, those Republicans realize that the American people are not going to stand for this. First of all, Congress is to appropriate funds, not the president. When you look at this anti- weaponization fund, it has been said to target some 1,600 people who participated on January the 6th as insurrectionists. When you think about that, almost half of them have been accused, charged with violent crimes, using deadly weapons. And the American people are not going to let our taxpayer's dollars be used for Trump's piggy bank. It's quite simple. They realize, like Democrats have said all along, that we're not going to agree to support this.

Look, this president is counting on those who have been loyal to him. As a matter of fact, he puts loyalty over law. So, Democrats are going to stand strong. We know that in the House Speaker Johnson couldn't even answer the question. He said it's not up to him. But as a leader, it is up to him to speak out and to speak up for the American people. The American people are hurting right now. What they care about is the price of groceries and gas and how they're going to survive.

WHITFIELD: Well, it almost sounded like the inference is, it's up to the president. And Trump has said he reiterated again today that he is not backing down, you know, on this fund. I mean, what's your reaction to, you know, the White House and Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, you know, in concert, defending the idea that these 1,600 people, as you mentioned, you know, could be among those, you know, convicted of bad things, January 6th, they could be among those eligible to be compensated, you know, for -- because, you know, the president, as he put it, you know, their lives have been ruined.

BEATTY: Well, I look at it this way. This is his attorney general. He has picked people who will be loyal to him. As we know, the five- member commission is to be made up of four attorney generals. I think we've heard President Trump say this before, what he was going to do. And two days later, he backs down with it.

I think the difference now is, there are more Republicans realizing that they have to do what the American people are doing. They're standing up against him. Democrats have always been strong. So, I'm not counting on that he will get everything he wants. Earlier, you talked about him trying to have dollars to fund what he tore down with the East Wing, that he wanted to build this ballroom. First he said it wouldn't require any taxpayer's money. Now he's tried to put together a plan that's going to ask taxpayers for billions of dollars. It's not going to happen. The American people are standing up.

Look, we're winning elections in this midterm. He has the lowest rate that he's ever had of the American people supporting him, more than any other president. So, I think we're going to see a change. We can't even convene in the House with Speaker Johnson. The president will call and ask him to do something. But members, his own members, are not standing with him.

WHITFIELD: So, I wonder, you know, as Republicans, you know, revolt, you know, both with that fund and even, you know, on pressing the White House to end the Iran War, what are Democrats doing or learning after reviewing, you know, this so-called autopsy of itself?

BEATTY: Well, if you want to talk about the after action report dubbed as the autopsy report, we are standing strong as Democrats. The report was released. We know it wasn't inclusive of anything that's going to change our direction. Right now we're just moving on. Democrats, think about it, in these mid-year elections, we have won state legislative races, more than 30, we've won in attorney general races. And so, when you look at where we are now, we are ahead of Republicans. They're afraid because they know that it's inevitable that we're going to take back the House. Hakeem Jeffries will be the next speaker.

And the reason why. Our messaging is strong. We're relating and speaking to the American people. They care about gasoline prices, food prices.

[09:10:00]

They don't want this senseless war that we're spending billions of dollars for when we can't even take care of our own. When we look at health care premiums doubling. The American people will come out and vote. We know that Donald Trump is going to try to do everything he can

against our voting rights, but Democrats are ready, we're fighting, and we're going to get out and vote and take back our democracy.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now.

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, thank you so much.

Danny.

WHITFIELD: Right now nearly 40 million Americans are getting ready to hit the road for Memorial Day weekend. Well, when they head to the pump to fill up their tanks, though, they will also be facing the highest gas prices in years. The national average this morning is $4.55. And right now is the first time in almost four years that gas in all 50 states tops $4.

AAA says more than 39 million people are expected to drive at least 50 miles from home this long weekend, and nearly 45 million Americans in total are set to travel. That's a record.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is in Ridgefield, New Jersey, tracking all of this for us.

Vanessa, you've been out there all morning. What are you hearing from drivers?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Danny, AAA is expecting this to be a record-breaking Memorial Day in terms of people traveling. The majority of those folks hitting the road, more than 39 million, filling up at gas stations across the country, including right here in New Jersey. The average here for a gallon of regular gas, $4.65. That is higher than the national average, which is $4.55 a gallon. However, that is up more than 50 cents in just the last month and up more than $1.50 since the war with Iran broke out at the end of February.

The only other time that we've seen gas prices this high was in 2022, heading into the Memorial Day weekend, a record when we saw gas prices at $4.61 a gallon.

But I've been speaking to people all morning. A lot of folks saying that they're not going to travel just to save money. One family saying they're just going to have to bite the bullet. And another young woman I spoke to saying that she's going to be making major changes in the way she travels.

Listen to a little bit of what they told me earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLISON ROGERS, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: The whole family's here. We're traveling from Delaware to Rhode Island for the weekend.

YURKEVICH: OK. So, how many miles is that? ROGERS: I don't know. I'm not sure how many miles it is. It's five and

a half hours. So, it's quite a bit. And, yes, I've been thinking about gas prices. Joking that we needed to take out a loan for the weekend.

YURKEVICH: Just for the gas prices?

ROGERS: Yes. Just joking. Yes.

YURKEVICH: No, but that's the thought, that it's feeling a little heavier this holiday season, this Memorial Day season?

ROGERS: Yes. Just every day even. Just driving around just day to day it's a lot.

YURKEVICH: Changing anything? Thinking about things differently?

JESSE DEMING, NEW JERSEY RESIDENT: I love to drive, but I'm definitely going to be -- I'm about to be using the transit system a lot more, which hopefully will be robust enough to get me where I need to go. But it has been a concern with thinking about how I'm going to get groceries coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: And I've been hearing that from a lot of drivers, not just the price of gas being more expensive, but a lot of other day to day items like groceries being more expensive for Americans.

Now, across the United States, every state now has an average gas price above $4 a gallon. You're talking about even in more affordable states for gas, like Mississippi, Georgia, Indiana. You now have seven states with gas prices over $5 a gallon. You're talking about California, Hawaii and Oregon.

And, Danny, as long as this war continues, the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, oil prices remain elevated, and gas prices then follow and are elevated, we're hearing from GasBuddy. They're projecting that the average gas price between Memorial Day travel and Labor Day travel will be $4.80 a gallon. That is higher than where we are right now, but not quite at that record of over $5 that we saw in 2022.

Danny.

FREEMAN: Unbelievable. The only bright spot for those New Jersey drivers is that they don't have to pump their own gas.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you very much. Appreciate your report.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Danny.

Roughly four million people are set to take to the skies this holiday weekend. Long lines, potential delays could be on the horizon as well, along with higher prices.

CNN's Pete Muntean is at Reagan National Airport following all this for us.

So, what are you hearing from folks? Is it, you know, higher prices? Is it stopping travelers this holiday weekend?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't seem to be stopping travelers, Fredricka. In fact, here at Reagan National Airport, the TSA tells me they set a local record here yesterday, 42,000 people through the TSA checkpoints like this one here at the north security checkpoint. Just check the numbers. Taking people about ten minutes to get through general screening. Things are moving pretty smooth now. We've gone through the peak of the morning rush.

Although we are not out of the woods yet.

[09:15:01]

About three million people expected at airports nationwide today according to the TSA. That is a huge number. Maybe one of the highest in TSA history.

Airlines insist that they are prepared for this massive rush of people. I want you to take a look at the departures board here. Things looking OK. Not a lot of red. Not a lot of yellow. Although things could change quickly here.

The Federal Aviation Administration says they're concerned about ground stops and delays as the day goes on because of crummy weather in some pretty significant places. We're talking huge hubs like Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Charlotte, even here at Reagan National Airport. There's also a presidential movement later, which may snarl things here.

The big thing that's emerging right now is this sinkhole that has closed one of the main runways, 4-2-2 (ph), at New York's LaGuardia Airport. It's been closed for the last two days. LaGuardia says that runway's not going to reopen until tomorrow at the earliest. Right now the Federal Aviation Administration has put in place delays for flights going to LaGuardia. About 95 minutes on average. And that could have a trickle down as this day goes on.

Of course the weather could really throw a wrench into things here, although thankfully the cancellations and delays remain relatively low. Cancellations in the double digits, delays in the triple digits. Things looking good so far, but it can change on a dime.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. Yes, well, it was in large part why my flight was very delayed that day of that sinkhole. So, I get it. So, you know, traveling is quite precarious these days.

All right, Danny, to you now. Thank you, Pete.

FREEMAN: Coming up in just a moment, a stark warning this morning from the world's top health organization on the Ebola outbreak, on the speed and the spread of that virus. Plus, President Trump's plans for a giant arch in Washington, D.C., is

now one step closer to becoming reality. We have new details on that.

And Stephen Colbert gets one last laugh, signing off as host of "The Late Show." How he closed out 33 years of the late night broadcast on CBS.

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[09:21:35]

FREEMAN: Breaking this morning, a stark warning from the World Health Organization on the Ebola virus. The top official there calling the situation deeply worrisome this morning and issuing a stern warning about what's happening on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is spreading rapidly. Previously, WHO assessed the risk as high at the national and regional levels and low at global levels. We are now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level and low at global level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: There are currently 177 deaths linked to the Ebola virus, with about 750 suspected cases in the DRC alone. Meanwhile, the WHO's chief scientist says a promising antiviral treatments could be used to stop Ebola from developing in someone who has come into close contact.

Joining us now is Dr. Angela Hewlett, an infectious disease specialist, professor and medical director of the Biocontainment Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Doctor, thank you for joining us this morning.

Let's start with the latest from the WHO, you just heard there. What do you make of leaders raising this risk level to very high in the DRC, but they're saying risk still remains low globally.

DR. ANGELA HEWLETT, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, NEBRASKA BIOCONTAINMENT UNIT: I'm very concerned about what's going on right now in the DRC and surrounding countries. And as was mentioned, this outbreak is expanding rapidly. And this is somewhat reminiscent of what happened in 2014 in west Africa with the large Ebola outbreak that occurred at that time, where we saw this kind of large number of cases and a rapidly expanding outbreak. That outbreak resulted in over 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths.

I am still very hopeful that we can get this outbreak under control before it reaches that level, but I do anticipate that this will get worse before it gets better.

FREEMAN: Doctor, I want to get your perspective on that last outbreak in a moment. But first on that breaking news, the WHO also signaling there's an antiviral treatment that could be used to prevent the disease's development. How significant is that?

HEWLETT: Well, we will -- we will take anything right about now. But honestly, you know, these things are all investigational. So, we do not have any approved treatments for this strain of Ebola virus disease. That's very different than what we have now for Zaire ebolavirus, which was the causative agent of the 2014 outbreak, where we have two FDA approved therapeutic agents, as well as an effective vaccine. That's not the case with this strain, but we welcome, you know, again, any investigational products or anything that we can look into that could potentially help either prevent or treat individuals that are affected by this.

FREEMAN: All right, let's talk about that epidemic from more than a decade ago now. You treated an American Ebola patient at the time. I'm curious, from your perspective, Doctor, what lessons do you think we should be taking today from that outbreak then?

HEWLETT: Well, Ebola affects every organ system in the body. And I think that, you know, we've learned a lot of lessons on the medical care of these patients and how that aggressive, supportive care early on can actually really interrupt this disease process and potentially help people to recover instead of going on to develop more critical illness.

[09:25:11]

But, you know, again, I -- this is a very difficult and volatile scenario. And I think we learned a lot with that previous outbreak. But because this is a different strain, it prevents -- it presents some kind of more difficult issues just because we don't have those therapeutic agents and vaccines that we had -- that we have now for Ebola Zaire.

FREEMAN: I know you said you were very concerned about what is happening right now, especially on the ground in the DRC, but can you, you know, for those people who just hear the word Ebola here in the states and get nervous and tense up, can you tell us what actually is the risk to the greater U.S. population right now?

HEWLETT: Well, right now, the risk to the greater U.S. population is extremely low. We do not have any known cases of Ebola virus disease in the United States at this time. And the likelihood of imported cases still remains low, but it's not zero. And I think we should all recognize that whenever there's an outbreak anywhere in the world, it can certainly affect us here in the U.S.

I am most concerned about what's going on in the DRC and surrounding countries, and most concerned for those populations there. That being said, you know, we need to be vigilant and make sure that we are doing appropriate screening and public health interventions to really try to stop this disease where it started, but also to, you know, to ensure that we don't have any imported cases. And if we do, that they're identified very quickly and can receive appropriate isolation and care.

FREEMAN: All right, Dr. Angela Hewlett, thank you so much for jumping on, on such a consequential morning and really sharing your expertise with us. Really do appreciate it.

This morning, new developments in the investigation of former Prince Andrew. We're going to tell you why British police are now appealing to the public for information.

Plus, a record response. The thousands of gamers who just stood up to join the next class of air traffic controllers.

Stay with us.

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