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Iran Warns Of Retaliation Over Ceasefire Violations; Trump Visits Walter Reed For Annual Physical And Dental Exam; DOJ Emphasizes "Critical Need" for Ballroom After White House Shooting. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 26, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:32:10]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Just in, Iran's Revolutionary Guard claims they have shot down an MQ-9 Reaper drone and opened fire on an F-35 jet and another drone that they say entered its airspace presumably somewhere around that region. Iran says it will retaliate over ceasefire violations.

Now, overnight, the United States launched new strikes on southern Iran -- you can see right here -- hitting these sites that the U.S. say were missile targets. The U.S. claims it was in self-defense and yet Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the two sides could be just days from some kind of an agreement.

With us now is CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh. Sabrina, great to see you here.

So we have these U.S. strikes overnight on Iran and we just learned seconds ago that Iranians claim they shot down a U.S. drone.

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR, FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Yeah.

BERMAN: So where does that leave things as these negotiations continue?

SINGH: What you're seeing is both sides claiming defensive strikes. They're both protecting their, you know, air assets and defense assets on the ground. And so the U.S. took defensive strikes yesterday. Iran -- just this morning as we're seeing coming in -- is also taking defensive measures.

Now the very tentative ceasefire, according to the U.S., is still holding. And even though it is still holding, I mean, we're still in the middle of a war. I mean, there is a naval blockade that is in active war so even though that you have this ceasefire they're still exchanging fire.

So it's now what happens next and I think that's what's really to watch. What does the president say about this and what does the supreme leader say now?

BERMAN: And, of course, then there's Israel too --

SINGH: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- right? Because Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, says that his war against Hezbollah and Lebanon is very much continuing.

So what does that do to the negotiations?

SINGH: And you've seen Israel actually intensify their strikes overnight on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

I mean, basically what this administration has done is the house is on fire and they're trying to put it out with a bucket of water. And this is a deal to get a deal. A lot of the issues -- the thorniest issues, whether it's nuclear enrichment or ballistic missile capabilities, are being pushed further down the line. And meanwhile, you have Israel still conducting strikes in Lebanon even though part of this so-called deal is that would stop.

So again, it's more about what does this administration do? What is the messaging that comes from Donald Trump today? I think there is not a world in which this administration wants to start back up on kinetic strikes, which is why they keep pushing this ball down the line, but we are where we are. Intensified strikes in Lebanon and, of course, you're seeing an exchange of fire in Iran as well.

BERMAN: And the Iranians know what the U.S. wants and doesn't want presumably, which may be why the United States seems to have --

SINGH: Right.

BERMAN: -- I don't know, budged or moved a little bit on the language on the nuclear talks.

This is a statement from the president yesterday. "The enriched uranium will either be immediately turned over to the U.S. to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination..." -- blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. "...destroyed in place," right? "...destroyed in place or at another acceptable location."

[07:35:10]

This means --

SINGH: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- the uranium stays and the Iranians destroy it there presumably. But this was sort of a no-go area before.

SINGH: This is much more lenient language than we've seen from the president than we've ever seen before. I mean, at the beginning of this war, February 28, it was that Iran would never get access to a nuclear weapon and would not be able to keep its enriched uranium.

This is signaling a bit of a gray area, and I think that this administration is hedging that. They're going to need some type of third party to come in here. I mean, I don't think it will acceptable under any terms that Iran keep some of its enriched uranium. But we've never seen language like this, and it does lean more towards Iran -- in its favor.

BERMAN: So these are the nuclear sites inside Iran.

SINGH: Yeah.

BERMAN: The uranium buried presumably underneath some of these facilities right now.

When we say destroyed it's, again, murky what exactly that means.

SINGH: Right.

BERMAN: That means you could degrade the uranium from 60 percent enrichment to what, like, five or 10 percent? But that's still potentially useful down the line.

SINGH: Right, and that's why the deal to get a deal does not address any of these issues.

And you'll remember the Iran deal that was negotiated under the Obama administration -- that took almost two years to get to and there were many mechanisms in place to monitor some of these sites. We're not seeing any of that being negotiated out in the public on what does monitoring look like. What actually happens to the enriched uranium? And they haven't even addressed their ballistic missile program, which was one of the capabilities that we know Iran still retains.

So even though this administration has said they've destroyed Iran's Navy and destroyed Iran's Air Force, those were never the programs of record that Iran touted. It was always its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and those still very much remain in the status quo before the war started.

BERMAN: So again, watch what's happening very much in the air and on the ground -- continued strikes. And we'll listen for what they have to say about the negotiations.

Sabrina Singh, thank you very much --

SINGH: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: -- for being here -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, John.

Happening right now, a roller coaster ride on the oil markets. Brent crude dropped huge on Monday, but today global oil prices are on the rise after those fresh strikes in southern Iran.

CNN's Matt Egan is here with me now. We saw this big drop and then that's changed.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. Well Sara, I think that reflects concern over those new strikes last night on Iran by U.S. forces. That really underscores the fragile nature of this ceasefire and does help explain why after plunging about 10 percent yesterday Brent is back on the rise.

Now, WTI, the U.S. benchmark, is down about four percent from Friday's close, so down but not dramatically lower. And again, I think that reflects concern about those U.S. strikes and the fact that, listen, even if there's a deal today, there's a certain amount of damage that has already been done because the Strait of Hormuz has been closed now since late February, right? We're talking about an estimated 1.2 billion barrels of oil that has been derailed out of the Middle East because of the war.

And this is coming at a really sensitive time because we have demand on the rise here in the U.S., in Europe, and elsewhere. You also have supplies coming down, right? That is never a good combination.

Now the good news though is that gas prices -- they are ticking lower, right? The new national average, $4.49 a gallon, down about two cents just from yesterday. Of course, that is well above the pre-war level --

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: -- of $2.98 a gallon.

And when we look at the trend for gas prices there was obviously this massive spike just as the war began. But gas prices have kind of leveled out here, around $4.50 a gallon.

I think the bad news is there is no sense yet that the worst is over here, right? I talked to Bob McNally, veteran energy analyst, and he told me he still thinks that Brent oil futures are going to go back up to $120-$130 a barrel. And he thinks that gas prices in the U.S. could still challenge that all-time high from 2022 of $5.02 a gallon, right?

I think what the market really wants to see, including the stock market -- they really want to see actual proof that there's a deal. That both sides are truly agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And then proof, right -- proof that oil flows are actually returning. And until that happens, we're going to be in a pretty uncertain and dangerous spot when it comes to energy prices. And it does still look like we're looking at high gas prices this summer, Sara.

SIDNER: What is wild here that we just have to mention is, like, the Dow is at 50,000-plus. And yes, it has just ticked up a bit. But the two things don't always match, right?

EGAN: Yeah.

SIDNER: The way that people are feeling having to pay for extra gas and what's happening in the market, but let's talk tech, right?

EGAN: Yeah.

SIDNER: That is -- in the end --

EGAN: I know. People are feeling the high gas prices. The market -- the market cares about the AI boom.

SIDNER: Matt, it's good to have you here --

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: -- to explain all of this madness.

All right, over to you, Kate.

[07:40:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So very soon, President Trump is set to leave the White House to head to Walter Reed Medical Center for his annual physical. The president turns 80 years old next month and questions about Trump's physical and mental fitness have followed him since before he entered office.

You will remember that letter from his then-personal physician back -- just in 2015 that famously stated this. "If elected, Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." It was later learned that Trump had dictated that line himself.

But in recent months -- now fast-forward today -- the White House and the president have been fielding new questions about some of the visible injuries, like bruising, seen on the president's hands. Swelling at the president's ankles. The White House explaining both as minor and benign issues, but questions persist as this White House has long been, at best, opaque about the president's health.

With us right now CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner. It's good to see you.

And worth stating, of course, Dr. Reiner, as you well know as you've worked for -- worked with and around White Houses in the past, that presidents are not legally obligated to release anything about their health. Whatever is disclosed is done by choice.

But still, what should happen, would you say, with this annual physical for the president? How should the exam be different for a president who is turning 80 in June.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, DIRECTOR, CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION LAB, GEORGE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. Well Kate, this is really a tradition. The tradition for the annual physical exam really was started by Richard Nixon in the -- in the aftermath of Eisenhower's large heart attack.

But the president and his team are not legally required to release information to Congress or the public, and I think that really should change. There are so many roles in our society that require annual assessments of physical capacity -- pilots, Secret Service agents, school bus drivers. And for the chief executive of this country and the commander in chief of our armed forces, we should have a clear understanding that the president is fit for duty.

I do want to see this -- you know, during this examination, a credible explanation for his visible health concerns. His bruising, which initially was described as due to vigorous handshaking, which is not credible. His severe edema in his ankle, which was described as, you know, chronic veinous insufficiency when just three months before or one year ago he was -- his examination disclosed that he had no edema, which would then make it acute chronic -- acute veinous insufficiency, which is an entirely different thing.

And finally, the president has severe daytime somnolence. He falls asleep very often. He's fallen asleep in the Oval Office on multiple occasions with people talking to him, in the cabinet room. And there was concern yesterday that he might have fallen asleep at Arlington National Cemetery during Memorial Day observances.

And chronic insomnia is a severe illness. It can result in an increase in risk of dementia, a decrease in cognitive effects in older people. It's equivalent to about increasing your age by about 3 1/2 years. It increases your cardiac risk of having a heart attack or developing congestive heart failure. And it -- and it can produce a decline in your sort of mental functions. Like it could increase depression, anxiety.

So it's a real problem and the president appears to struggle to stay awake during the day. And I'd like to hear what the White House has done to evaluate why the president has this increased daytime somnolence and what they're doing to improve that.

BOLDUAN: We have also -- you know, Trump, back in January -- I was looking back -- he had told The Wall Street Journal in an interview, Dr. Reiner, that he actually regretted getting the cardiovascular and abdominal CT scan that he did back in October because of speculation that it sparked.

And at the time he wrote -- he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview, "In retrospect, it's too bad I took it because it gave them a little ammunition. I would have been a lot better off if they didn't because the fact that I took it and said, 'Oh gee...' -- took it -- said 'Oh gee, is something wrong?' Well, nothing's wrong."

He seems to present -- be presenting something of a catch-22 of getting -- you want the president to be getting frequent checkups, especially when the fact of the matter is as you get older you do face medical issues. People in their late 70s and 80s -- they will have medical issues. There is no escaping that. But then saying that every time he does, you know, it sparks some wild speculation.

What do you make of it?

REINER: Well, first of all, we've never had an adequate explanation of why the president went to Walter Reed in October for off-cycle testing.

[07:45:00]

The president's team hates taking the president to Walter Reed and they only take the president there when there is testing that they need to do that cannot be accomplished at the White House. The White House has a prodigious capacity to test and treat the president and his -- and his team. So you only go to Walter Reed when you need something like a CT scan or an MRI scan, or some other invasive modality.

And we've never -- it's never been adequately explained why they took the president there. His physician later said that he went there for preventive testing, which really makes no sense because it creates the kind of concern and speculation that occurs when the president in an almost unannounced way goes to Walter Reed for unusual testing. So I'd like to hear much more of a fulsome explanation from Dr. Barbabella about what that testing showed.

One other thing. I'll be very interested to see what testing they do today. Because if they repeat some of the scans that have been done in the last year or so then that tells us that they are surveilling something and we've never -- and that's never been disclosed to us.

BOLDUAN: Very interesting.

It's great to see you, Dr. Reiner. Thank you so much for coming in. Let's see what comes of it and what is disclosed -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much, Kate.

Ahead, millions are waking up around flood watches this morning. Deadly flash floods spanned across the Southeast and more wet weather is on the way. We'll have the report.

And we are getting a look inside a coal mine. The moment a devastating blast ripped through the tunnels, killing dozens of people.

Those stories and more ahead.

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[07:50:55]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning a new legal filing from the Trump administration to argue for construction of the White House ballroom. The Justice Department is arguing the shooting outside a White House security checkpoint this weekend highlights what it calls the "critical need" for the ballroom, calling it "...a second attempted assassination on the president within a single month."

With us now Elie Honig, CNN senior legal analyst. And counselor, one other thing that this filing says is "Without the construction of this great project, the president cannot safely conduct the business of the United States. This is a terrible, tremendously harmful case to the United States of America and all it stands for!" That sounds like legal language right there.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: The legal significance of this filing, John, is zero because the actual legal issue in this case is not whether the ballroom is a good idea, a bad idea, a beautiful design or tacky, necessary for security or unnecessary. The legal issue in this case is whether Congress has authorized this construction and this spending.

So I read this brief. It's five pages long. It does not have a single citation to a single case, a single citation to a single statute, a single citation to a single regulation. It reads appropriately for an op-ed you might submit to a newspaper or for a policy paper you might submit to Congress, but it has nothing to do with the legal case.

BERMAN: So where is the case right now exactly, and what is being considered?

HONIG: So the district court judge in D.C., a guy named Judge Noel (sic), who was appointed by George W. Bush, has ruled that the construction must stop because Congress has not authorized this spending. There are various statutes that allow the president to make "alternations" or "improvements" to the White House, but the judge said this is not that. This is something different entirely.

However, that judge said, "I'm going to put my own ruling on hold until this case can be argued in the Court of Appeals next week, June 5." And so what that means is at the moment, construction continues. So the Court of Appeals will hear the case next week. They may say stop construction. That's what the lower court said. But as of now, construction goes on.

BERMAN: OK. And to that point, so even if the Court of Appeals looks at this and says hey, we actually need Congress to say yes here if you're going to go ahead with this, what happens then? There's a big hole in the ground.

HONIG: Right. This is a great example of what you learn in law school that possession is nine-tenths of the law. That's another way of saying sometimes the physical realities on the ground dictate the legal result.

And here we have this -- the East Wing has been demolished. There is a hole in the ground. There is a foundation being built. So I don't know how practically, even if a judge decides or this Court of Appeals decides this is not authorized by Congress, what do you do? Leave this partially-built building up?

I do think there's some fault, by the way, in the people who challenged this. They should have done it way earlier. They should have done it before the actual -- I know the demolition happened by surprise, but they should have done it right away. Instead, they waited several weeks until this thing was already underway.

BERMAN: Yeah. I mean, but this does show a legal strategy for this administration beyond just knocking down buildings. It's do things first, ask legal questions later.

HONIG: We've seen it elsewhere. Fire people first and then let them sue to try to get it back. Knock the building down first and let someone else sue to try to stop you. It's a brute force approach to law but it does have its effectiveness.

BERMAN: Do you think a court will want to say no, enough -- we've had enough -- even if it means there's a hole in the ground?

HONIG: It could be. I mean, it'll be interesting.

Look, if the Court of Appeals just looks at this on the law they might well agree with the district court judge and say this is illegal, this is not authorized by Congress, and it's not our problem as a court to worry about the practicalities on the ground. So we'll see what wins out, law or practicality.

BERMAN: Counselor, thank you very much for being here.

HONIG: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: So this morning there's new video coming in showing the moment a deadly explosion just ripped through a coal mine in northern China. This happened on Friday and we're just now seeing the video. More than 200 workers were underground at the time of the blast. At least 82 people were killed and two remain unaccounted for. It's the deadliest mining accident in China in more than a decade. China's president has now ordered a full investigation.

[07:55:00]

In Upstate New York a man was just rescued after being stuck in a cave for six hours -- but more specifically not just in a cave -- stuck in a crevice unable to move. Rescue teams and even his three friends worked to chip at the rocks with hammers to get him free. The crews spent several hours doing just that and finally freed him using a rock drill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JOHN GULLEN, EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOREST RANGER: With any cave rescue, hypothermia is a guarantee. It's something that it's going to be a factor. Um, it's about 50 degrees in the cave and it's almost 100 percent humidity, and that gets you cold quick, especially when you're not moving. And he did a phenomenal job staying calm. I don't know if there are many people who could stay calm. He was stuck for a total of six hours, unable to move basically in any direction. For most people, that's like their worst nightmare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: For sure.

The man was treated -- was treated for hypothermia but was otherwise unharmed. Pretty amazing.

Also amazing the annual cheese roll is upon us, my favorite sport of all time. This year did not disappoint. The goal as simple as always. Run, roll, tumble, fall, pick your word, down -- all the way down a very steep hill in Gloucestershire, England, as fast as you can to chase after a seven-pound wheel of cheese. There are seven races in total.

This year a German YouTuber won the first men's competition, and he won that for the third year in a row. His main motivation, cheese wheel glory, of course, and also trying to beat the Guinness World Recordholder Chris Anderson, who has won 23 times. He was in this race as well.

Organizers say the recent hot weather actually dried out the hill making the ground even more firm and even more dangerous. And it was hot -- like 86 degrees -- which I'm sure is perfect for keeping that cheese wheel prize at peak freshness -- John.

BERMAN: You know, we cover this every year -- appropriately, too --

BOLDUAN: It's my favorite sport.

BERMAN: -- I might add. But --

BOLDUAN: It's my favorite sport.

BERMAN: -- I have to say the cheese is barely visible. I think the cheese plays almost no role in this. It's just a bunch of weird Europeans who want to roll down a hill and I think --

BOLDUAN: There's some --

BERMAN: -- they should change --

BOLDUAN: And how -- and --

BERMAN: I mean, I know there's a cheese --

BOLDUAN: One, I take issue with your, um -- with your suggestion that they're weird because I think maybe --

BERMAN: How dare you?

BOLDUAN: -- this is just exactly what humanity needs.

BERMAN: It is. That's fair. That's fair.

BOLDUAN: And two, it's never about the cheese. They've been -- oh my God. People do get injured though, so they do recommend against this.

SIDNER: Have you noticed that the women -- most of them are standing and running and the men are the ones falling all around?

BOLDUAN: Not that one.

SIDNER: I'm just saying. I'm saying it's just a thing.

BOLDUAN: Saying --

SIDNER: There's nothing weird about that. I'd be all up in that.

BOLDUAN: They're just at a lower center of gravity. You're welcome, America and the world.

BERMAN: I'm just glad we're here to cover it every year.

BOLDUAN: Me, too. Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Anytime. If cheese is not your thing how about lobster? Well, the thing is you may not be able to afford it -- not even close. Lobster prices are skyrocketing.

CNN's Randi Kaye has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's good. One more bite.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you willing to shell out big bucks for a lobster roll?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not today, I'm not. That's why I got a $7.00 clam chowder instead.

KAYE (voiceover): Lobster rolls are usually a popular summer item on the menu but her in New England some customers can't believe how expensive they are now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The great thing was that it was given to me.

KAYE: If you had to pay for it upwards of $40 a lobster roll, is it worth it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it -- is it that? Wow.

KAYE: Maine's lobster supply has been dwindling for years and last year, according to Maine's Department of Marine Resources, they saw the lowest supply of lobster since 2008. All of that drives prices up.

PAUL BARKER, OWNER, PAULI'S: Yeah. I remember when lobster was $16.00, $17.99. In some places in the city we're at $50.00. It just blows my mind.

KAYE (voiceover): Restaurant owners here say they are dealing with soaring wholesale prices and rising labor costs. And the price of catching a lobster has also put a squeeze on supply.

KAYE: In Maine, where about 80 percent of the country's lobster comes from, diesel fuel prices are up 52 percent over this time last year, according to AAA. So for lobster fishermen they have a decision to make. Do they really want to go that far off shore and burn that much expensive fuel in search of a lobster? Oh, my goodness. I have never seen a lobster roll like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's fantastic. And you can see this is big chunks of lobster. This is the "Lobstitution."

KAYE: The "Lobstitution."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

KAYE: How much lobster is in the "Lobstitution" would you say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Almost a pound and a half of lobster right there.

KAYE: Oh, my gosh.

STEVE BARRESI, WULF'S SEAFOOD SUPPLY: Fuel costs are so high. Bait is so high. Labor is so high. Maintenance of the traps is so high. So by the time they get out they're already in the red. Live lobsters are up around $2.00 a pound compared to last year, which translates to higher meat prices.

KAYE: And translates to more expensive lobster rolls.

BARRESI: More expensive lobster rolls.

JEREMY SEWALL, CHEF, ROW 34, BOSTON: It definitely impacted us this winter and it just drove the cost through the roof.

KAYE (voiceover): At Row 34 in the Boston Seaport, chef Jeremy Sewall says they serve about 200 lobster rolls a day in the summer months.

SEWALL: This is our warm butter lobster roll, which is our -- by far, our most popular lobster roll. So it's just warmed up in whole butter and stuffed into a toasted bun.