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Supreme Court Says Vermont Can Sue Instagram Over Youth Social Media Addiction; Trump Outlines Options to Destroy Iran's Enriched Uranium, Says Material Could Be Destroyed in Place With Tehran's Involvement; California Officials Still Monitoring Overheated Chemical Tank; Humanitarian Group Says Ebola Outbreak Outpacing Response Efforts; Four Killed After Train Hits School Bus in Belgium. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 26, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: -- social media platforms accountable for these claims that it has addicted and harmed young people.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": So what does that look like, as this case then goes forward? Because in other cases that we've seen, it's really been quite dramatic.

DUFFY: Yeah, it could take some time for this Vermont case to actually go to court in a way that we get to hear the trial, but Meta and YouTube were held liable by a California jury in a case brought by an individual earlier this year for addicting and harming a young woman and the company is both Meta and the other social media platforms, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok just settled a case that was set to go to trial next month brought by a school district claiming that it has experienced harms because these platforms addicted the children in that school district.

There are two other cases that are set to go to trial later this year, one brought by another individual, one brought by the Tennessee State Attorney General. So we are going to keep seeing these cases rolling out -- rolling out to trial. It's going to be interesting to see whether these companies continue to settle these cases perhaps concerned that after that California ruling they may not be successful or whether we will start to see some more of these trials play out and juries getting a chance to decide whether these platforms are liable for addicting and harming children.

KEILAR: Yeah, really will be. Clare Duffy, thank you for the report.

Coming up, sticking points or just plain stuck. We're looking at what Iran and the U.S. may not be able to agree on and where talks go from here.

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[13:35:40]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Just hours after the U.S. carried out new strikes in southern Iran, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio is stressing that a peace deal is still possible and could be reached in a couple of days. Rubio says, right now, the only thing holding up the agreement is wording.

The remaining sticking points though are said to include Iran's nuclear program, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, unfreezing Iranian assets, lifting sanctions, and the Israel-Lebanon conflict, many of the same sticking points that they've had now for months. Iranian officials say that negotiations about its nuclear program can only begin once a memorandum ending the war is agreed upon.

And now, President Trump appears to be shifting on one of his demands concerning Iran's enriched uranium. After saying last week that the U.S. would not bend on recovering the material, in a new Truth Social post, Trump says it can be either transported to the U.S. or "destroyed in place" or at another acceptable location with the Atomic Energy Commission or its equivalent being witness to this process and event.

We're joined now by Matt Miller. He served as the State Department Spokesperson under former President Biden. Matt, I want to start there with President Trump seeming to open the door for a different outcome with this highly enriched uranium. What do you see as the best possible outcome for it that is still realistic that Tehran would accept?

MATT MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON UNDER BIDEN: Well, the best possible outcome, of course, would be removing all of the highly enriched uranium, that close to 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium that we know is inside Iran. And I am a little -- I'm a little curious what the president actually meant by a statement. Look, we know he's not always precise with his language, especially when it comes to these complicated matters.

If he does mean the actual destruction of the uranium and that was overseen by say the IAEA, that would, of course, be an acceptable outcome. But it could also mean the down blending of the uranium which is essentially the dilution of uranium. So you take 60 percent enriched uranium to 20 percent or to 3 percent, which would not be the same thing because Iran should it choose either next year or sometime in the future to pursue enrichment again, it could take that down blended diluted uranium and enrich it again up to the 60 percent threshold.

So, not exactly clear what the president means. If he is referring to diluting or down blending uranium, that would not be the same as destroying it. Certainly, not as acceptable as removing it from the country altogether.

SANCHEZ: When he talks about potentially it going to another location, the Kremlin raised its hand weeks ago, when this was floated as a potential idea. Should we be skeptical of the Russians trying to do anything with this enriched uranium out of Iran?

MILLER: I think we should. Look, when the United States and other countries reached a deal with Iran on its nuclear program during the Obama administration, Russia did agree to accept Iran's enriched uranium. It wasn't highly enriched uranium, it was medium-grade enriched uranium at that time. But we are in a much different place vis-a-vis Russia than we were when they were a productive part of those talks, leading up to the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal.

They have not played a role in this and, of course, we are in a much different place in our relationship with Russia than we were at that time. So I think it's something the United States would look very skeptically at. Given that Iran and Russia now are strategic partners, you've seen Iran helping arm Russia in its war. Russia has become dependent on Iran for drone technology, so I don't think it's something that we ought to look positively on.

SANCHEZ: So, when asked about U.S. strikes around the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours, Secretary Rubio said the waterway is going to be open one way or another. Is this an indicator to you of the direction that negotiations are heading?

MILLER: Well, it's an indicator of the direction the U.S. wants negotiations to head. What the Secretary of State said is undeniably true. The Strait of Hormuz should be open. It is international waters. Vehicles should be allowed to pass through the Straits without paying any kind of toll to the Iranian government. The Iranian government has rejected that position.

You saw them try to massage it publicly over the weekend, the Iranians, by saying no, we wouldn't want to -- we wouldn't charge a toll but we would be entitled for some kind of reimbursement for services they provide. So they would still expect to receive some sort of payment but they wouldn't call it a toll.

Look, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it's a duck. It doesn't matter what they call it. If they are charging a fee that they were not charging before the beginning of the war, it's a toll and that would be a major strategic reversal for the United States and for others who rely on international shipping through those waters.

SANCHEZ: I'm paraphrasing, but I believe the statement from Iranian officials was that the charge would be for help with transportation and for environmental fees.

[13:40:00]

What happens if Iran maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz and charges those fees for all the people that are transporting fuel and fertilizer through the Persian Gulf?

MILLER: The number one, you're putting new revenues into the Iranian coffers, a regime that even if we are able to deal with their nuclear program, and I'm a bit skeptical that we will reach a deal, certainly one that's as strong as the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal under the Obama administration.

But even setting the nuclear program aside, it's a regime that still continues to pursue ballistic missiles that it can use to threaten all of its neighbors, not just Israel, but all of the Gulf countries that are partners of the United States.

It's a regime that still continues to support terrorism, so they would have revenues that they could use to fund all of those activities. It also changes the strategic picture of the Gulf. If Iran has a veto on who comes and goes through the Strait of Hormuz, they can shut down the global economy as they have done through this conflict.

Unfortunately, whether they do in this conflict with the ability to charge a toll or not, that strategic picture has already been altered. Iran was able to exercise a veto on the world economy that they did not have before the start of this conflict. They had it in theory.

They did not have it in practice. Now whether they are able to charge a toll or not, the entire world knows that they hold that crucial waterway hostage and can change the picture on the ground at a moment's notice.

SANCHEZ: On one hand, you can call it far-fetched. On the other, you can call it severely ambitious. But this idea from President Trump for all the Gulf neighbors to join in on the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel, how likely is that to happen?

MILLER: Look, it's extremely far-fetched to say the least. Look at the country that has been closest to that of the countries that were in that call with the President of the United States, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has made clear they're not doing that anytime soon. They wanted two things. One, calm in Gaza. Two, a path towards a Palestinian state. Gaza is not calm. Reconstruction has not begun. Hamas has not laid down its weapons.

The path to statehood seems further away than ever when you see the increase in settler violence in the West Bank and you see Israel effectively annexing parts of the West Bank. And the thing that really concerns me about the president making that pitch to these leaders, when anyone who knows anything about the region would say that's not happening is, he got into this war based on a series of mistaken assumptions, that the Iranian people would rise up and overthrow their government, that he could pick a leader in the mold of Delcy Rodriguez that we could then kind of dictate terms to, that Iran would not close the Strait of Hormuz, all of which have turned out to be wrong.

And they were wrong, I think, because either he didn't have the right people around him to give him good advice, or he wasn't listening to the advice, or he just doesn't understand the region. Whatever the reason, when you see him pitching, not just on Truth Social, where he says a lot of things that don't make sense, but directly to foreign leaders, this idea that is completely nonsensical and won't happen, it tells me that he still is making a lot of bad assumptions about how the region works. And if you're making bad assumptions, you're likely to make bad decisions.

SANCHEZ: Matt Miller, thanks so much for the perspective, appreciate the time.

MILLER: Thanks. SANCHEZ: Health officials are warning that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading faster than they can respond to it. We have the latest right after this.

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[13:47:51]

SANCHEZ: Today, fire officials in Orange County, California, will be doing more assessments of an overheated chemical tank that forced tens of thousands of evacuations. Most people affected by the order were allowed to return home last night after officials announced the tank was no longer at risk of a catastrophic vapor explosion, but about 16,000 are still displaced amid a threat of a smaller explosion or even a toxic release.

Orange County fire officials say that atmospheric monitoring has turned up no signs of any chemical leak, but residents nearby say that they have experienced symptoms. Brianna?

KEILAR: A humanitarian group says the Ebola virus exploding across Central Africa, right now, is spreading faster than response efforts and they warn that without urgent action, the growing outbreak could become the deadliest on record. There are more than 900 suspected cases and at least 220 confirmed deaths.

Let's go to CNN Medical Correspondent, Meg Tirrell. Meg, the DRC is no stranger to Ebola outbreaks. This is its 17th, so what makes this one so transmissible?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, part of the issue is that this is a strain that we don't often see of Ebola. It's a strain called Bundibugyo, where the previous outbreaks, most of them have been caused by a species of the virus known as Zaire, including the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history in West Africa in 2014.

That killed 11,000 people. So right now, we know we have about 900 cases and about 220 deaths associated with this, but part of the reason we haven't been able to detect it faster is it is this different strain, and so the tests that were initially being used were set up to find that other strain. This, of course, is in a very difficult region as well.

The Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo is an area that has a lot of conflict, and the WHO director general is saying there's been intensified fighting in that region, including in the province to the south, North Kivu, and so that has contributed to this growing very big and being very complex to try to contain.

Also, there's an absence of approved vaccines and medicines, again going back to the fact that this is a different strain than we typically see.

[13:50:00]

So in that previous outbreak, we did develop a vaccine that is available. However, it's not necessarily going to be deployed for this outbreak, Brianna.

KEILAR: It's heartbreaking watching the pictures of people trying to manage this as their communities are grieving. I mean, it is really tough to watch. What's the latest on possible treatments here?

TIRRELL: So the toolbox isn't completely bare, although it's not where folks would like it to be, but it sounds like the nearer term efforts are going to focus on therapeutics, potentially starting clinical trials soon of two monoclonal antibody treatments, which could be used to treat folks who are sick with Ebola. Those are expected to enter clinical trials.

They're also looking at an antiviral drug called Obeldesivir to use for post-exposure prophylaxis, which is essentially giving it to people after they've been exposed to try to prevent them from developing Ebola. And what's good about that approach is that drug is given orally, whereas the monoclonal antibodies are typically given by IV infusion. And in this region, it could be difficult to administer those.

They are also pursuing development of vaccines, including using the same technology they used to develop the existing vaccine for the Zaire strain. However, it's going to take six to nine months even just to get enough supply of that to start clinical trials. And so the treatments might be on the nearer term, Brianna.

But we also know that the way to try to contain Ebola is to isolate the cases, provide them with treatment, identify their contacts and isolate them, and that of course requires just a lot of work. It's a very complex place to be doing all of this, but authorities say that is how it is done.

KEILAR: All right, Meg Tirrell, thanks for the latest on this.

In roughly one hour, the U.S. men's national team will reveal its World Cup roster. So who is going to make the cut? We'll have that next.

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[13:56:18]

KEILAR: Now to some of the headlines that we're watching this hour. Belgian police say it's too early to say whether a school bus driver intentionally drove through a closed railway barrier before being hit by a train this morning.

Officials say the driver, an attendant, and two students were killed, and five more children were hospitalized. According to the rail operator, footage shows that the barriers were down, and traffic lights were red when this accident occurred. An investigation is underway.

Also, a monster downpour in the Atlanta area may have caused a huge fish kill in the Chattahoochee River. The storm dumping three inches of rain per hour last Wednesday, an environmental non-profit says its staffers then found thousands of dead fish on Friday, some of them weighing up to 30 pounds.

This was along a 20-mile stretch of the Chattahoochee. Officials and conservationists think the sudden influx of warmer water, as well as sewage discharge, played a role in the die-off.

And the Supreme Court says it is staying out of a class action discrimination lawsuit against the NFL brought by several black coaches. Brian Flores, who is currently defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, sued the league in 2022, claiming systematic racism when it came to the hiring and promotion of black coaches.

Two other coaches later joined the lawsuit. The NFL was asking the Supreme Court to move the case out of federal court and force it into arbitration, an out-of-court legal process to resolve disputes seen as less favorable to plaintiffs. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Mexico's president confirms that her country will host the Iranian national soccer team during the upcoming World Cup amid tensions between the United States and Tehran. That team will have to sleep in Mexico and travel to the U.S. on match days after the U.S. declined to host them. CNN's Don Riddell joins us now.

So, Don, have we heard from FIFA regarding this move?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: No, we haven't directly, Boris. CNN has reached out to them for comment, but football's world governing body did, on Monday, publish a list of where all of the 48 teams will be based during the tournament, and it showed that Iran will be in -- Tehran in Mexico just over the border from San Diego. So, I guess that is the confirmation of what the Iranian team are going to be doing.

Remember, they were supposed to be based in Tucson, Arizona, but things got really, really complicated when the war with Iran began. There was talk that maybe they wouldn't play in the tournament at all. Then there was word from President Donald Trump that they could come, but they might not be safe.

And what we heard from the Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum, was that the U.S. did not want them to sleep overnight in the United States. So her country, Mexico, has accommodated them and that's where they're going to be. It might actually be perhaps even a bit of a geographical upgrade, because the first two games for Iran are in Los Angeles, so it's going to be a short trip for them.

The third game will be in Seattle, so that was going to be a longer flight wherever they were based. And that's where we are at the moment. I do get the sense that the less said by everybody, the better. The State Department has talked about the fact that President Trump said they were welcome to compete, but didn't say anything about where they were going to stay.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. And Don, quickly, what's next for the U.S. team?

RIDDELL: U.S. team squad announcement is going to happen in just over an hour, awful lot of excitement about that. The edge has been slightly taken off because the squad was kind of leaked in a British newspaper over the weekend. So, if those are the players that end up in Mauricio Pochettino's squad of '26, then there'll be no surprises, but huge deal of anticipation and excitement anyway.

The tournament now just, well, it's only two, three weeks away. Very soon.

SANCHEZ: It is going to be huge. Don Riddell, thank you so much for the update.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.