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Iran Says they have the Draft of a Potential Deal; Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) is Interviewed about Iran; Nine Missing in Chemical Tank Rupture in Washington; Trump Congratulates Paxton; Paxton to Face Talarico. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 27, 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]

ALYSON SHONTELL, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER, "FORTUNE": On the table. So, he's not done with this strategy.

And Intel, I have to say, if you look at the stock chart from when he invested to what it is now, it is a straight up hockey stick. So, still TBD. I did ask him, you know, how do you exit this without taking the stock?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right, because it's him, him, him.

SHONTELL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's not -- yes.

SHONTELL: It's all about him, But also, you know, if the government starts pulling out, what is that going to do for other investors looking at, you know, the company. And he's like, oh, you know, if I just -- if I communicate it clearly up front and we just say, this is not for us and a little bit, you know, five percent over the course of time, it will all be fine.

So, TBD.

BOLDUAN: I mean, that's a big TBD when you're talking about a company like Intel.

SHONTELL: Big. Yes, big. Yes.

BOLDUAN: And the investment that could be made there. Definitely something about to watch.

It was really great to see you.

SHONTELL: So great to see you. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming in.

SHONTELL: Of course.

BOLDUAN: A great list. Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL --

BOLDUAN: Oh, I'm going to actually --

SIDNER: All right, we begin this hour with breaking news. New details are coming into CNN. Our reporters are getting a look at a draft of a deal towards ending the war with Iran. It's happening as President Trump will sit down with his cabinet this morning.

Plus, recovery efforts underway after a chemical tank implodes at a paper plant. One person is dead, nine people are now missing. Details about this dangerous search.

And five people trapped deep underground in a flooded cave for days have been found alive. Now the mission, to get them out. It's going to be complicated.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's get to some of the breaking news this hour.

Iran state TV says it has a draft of the potential deal with the United States to end the war. But does it line up with what we have been hearing from President Trump and the secretary of state? According to this report, the quote/unquote, "memorandum of understanding" between the two countries will call for the U.S. military to withdraw from the vicinity of Iran, lift the blockade of Iranian ports, and in return, Iran will commit to restoring the number of commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within one month.

All of this comes as President Trump is set to hold a cabinet meeting -- called a meeting with his cabinet at the White House today and absolutely and certainly the negotiations over a deal with Iran will be part of that discussion.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is live at the White House for us.

What more are we learning about this news coming in?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and this is sort of a fascinating leak from Iranian state media. And it is, I think, a -- it shows, I think, what the Iranians are trying to emphasize as part of this deal. They say it's a 14-point draft. Some of the points are similar to how the White House has been describing it, but some of them, I think the White House will probably push back on just given how high stakes these negotiations are.

Now, what Iranian state TV is that -- says is that this is not final, that the wording and the details are still being negotiated. And that is certainly in line with what we understand from American officials, that they're continuing to go back and forth over individual words, over individual sentences that are contained in this document. You know, the bulk of the information coming from Iranian state TV is

about the Strait of Hormuz. You know, they talk about the idea that the blockade that the president has imposed on Iranian ports will be lifted as part of this plan, and that Iran, in turn, will begin allowing traffic to flow through the Strait in coordination and cooperation with Oman.

Now, what White House officials have said is that, yes, the president is willing to lift the blockade, but only if they see progress on the Iranian front to allow those ships to go through.

What this document and what Iranian state TV have not mentioned at all is what happens to Iran's nuclear program. That doesn't appear to be something that they want to emphasize as part of their own reporting about this plan. And we know that that has become one of the sticking points as the two sides go back and forth. The U.S. is looking for very firm commitments from Iran, both to never obtain a nuclear weapon, but also to dispose of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Now, we did see some flexibility on President Trump's front earlier this week, saying that the U.S. would not necessarily need to take shipment of that stockpile, that he would be open to it being destroyed, either inside Iran or in a third country.

[09:05:02]

This state TV report not suggesting that the Iranians have made any commitments on that front, but I think just an intriguing look at how they are looking to message this to their own population, as it seems like these negotiations are advancing, however slowly.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it's great -- a great perspective, Kevin. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now is Congressman Adam Smith of Washington. He is the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

And, Congressman, let's just go through again what we're just now seeing on Iranian state media. They say they've seen a memorandum of the negotiating document that's going back and forth in that it says the United States will withdraw military forces from the vicinity of Iran, that the U.S. would lift the blockade of Iranian ports, and in return, Iran would commit to restoring the traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month. So, not immediately, but within a month. And that the Strait would be controlled in a joint coordination with Oman.

So, just those things, what's your view of just those things if that ends up being part of the deal?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Yes. Well, I mean, the number one thing that occurs to me is it shows just the weak position that this war has put us in. I mean if that were to play out, we would have accomplished nothing that we said we wanted to accomplish on nuclear programs, on Iran's ballistic missile programs, on their support for terrorism. And in exchange, now we're paying Iran to allow ships to go through the Strait of Hormuz. So, I mean it shows what a disastrous decision it was to start this war.

But we also got to think about, OK, where are we now? What is the best thing we can get given where we're at? Regrets don't really help in that regard. And getting the Strait of Hormuz open is incredibly important. I think opening it where we're paying Iran, that -- that's got to be a nonstarter.

So, I think we have to keep focusing on getting the Strait open without further empowering Iran.

BERMAN: So, Iranian state media, what they're reporting right now, so far what we're seeing from the translation, it does not include any form of payment or talk about Iranian funds per se, or tolls I should note, through the Strait of Hormuz. But what it does say is that management of marine traffic through the strait will be controlled by Iran in cooperation with Oman.

How do you think the United States should feel about the Strait officially being controlled by Iran and Oman?

SMITH: Well, like I said, I don't think it's something that we should support. And I doubt they're going to manage it for free. I mean, you're right, it doesn't necessarily say what money is involved here, but that -- that is certainly implied. And also, of course, it's silent on the details of what to do about Iran's nuclear program, which is the single most important issue that we want to get out of this.

BERMAN: Yes, and we don't know what the document says about that right now. But what we do know is that the president's language seems to have shifted a little bit on the enriched uranium, where he's now floating the possibility of it being destroyed in place. How do you feel about that?

SMITH: Well, I mean, if it were to come to pass, I mean, that that would be fine. But again, we're a good distance from that. And look, it's just, I really got to emphasize the cost of this war and the lack of a benefit out the other side. And President Trump dragged us into this war with no idea where it was going, no idea how to end it. We've seen the cost. Fourteen service members killed, hundreds wounded, thousands of civilians killed. The global economy is in chaos because of this. Gas prices are off the charts.

Iran is as hard line as they've ever been. So, we are definitely in a weakened position. And the other part about this, as you mentioned what Trump said he could accept, I mean, Trump's been all over the map on this. It's hard to take his words at face value, which makes this all the more difficult to actually get to an agreement that can stop the war, open the Strait and begin to release the pressure that is on the global economy and certainly on our economy here in the us. BERMAN: Congressman, as we said, you are the ranking member on the

House Armed Services Committee. If the elections go the way you no doubt want them to in November, if Democrats take control of the House, presumably you would be chair of the House Armed Services Committee, what would be different with Democrats in control of that committee next year?

SMITH: Well, there would be some accountability and some transparency for the -- for the Pentagon. I mean we've seen a Pentagon that has been very much out of control, certainly starting this war without congressional approval, no meaningful oversight of the war from Congress. I think we need that.

We've, you know, seen the way Secretary Hegseth has randomly fired people without accountability. So, accountability and oversight, but also a perspective and an ability to move us away from simply supporting whatever Donald Trump does.

[09:10:07]

Now, let's be realistic about this. Trump's still going to be president. We don't know where the Senate is going to be. So, the challenge that I'm thinking of is, I want our country to function. We need to pass a defense bill. We need to work with the administration to try to make sure that the Department of Defense actually functions going forward. But we have to have more oversight. The war in Iran is the best example of how having a president and a secretary of defense that don't feel accountable to the American people pay a huge cost for that. So, more oversight, more transparency. We'll try to pass more legislation to hold them accountable.

BERMAN: Congressman Adam Smith from Washington, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you for joining us from Seattle.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, good conversation there, John.

Right now, as the sun rises in Washington state, recovery efforts are set to continue after a chemical tank ruptured at a paper plant, leaving at least one worker dead. But there are nine people, nine employees that are still missing after that explosion. And investigators this morning are working to answer this question, how did this all happen? But first, they need to try and rescue these people.

CNN's Nick Watt is tracking all of this for us.

We -- I think last hour you mentioned that in about 20, 30 minutes it was going to get light out there. That has now happened. What can you tell us about these recovery efforts?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the sun is now up, Sara. We are going to get an official update not for about four hours. But what they are trying to do now that the sun is up is stabilize that tank. Issue number one, it could collapse on any first responders who come in. The second issue, there is still a lot of this chemical sloshing around in that plant. Now, about half a million gallons of it escaped from the tank. There was also a breach of a water pipe. So, you've got water and this chemical sloshing around the site. That is a very dangerous situation.

The chemical, white liquor. PH about 13,14. A very strong alkaline, caustic, will second degree, third degree burns if it touches human skin. It breaks down wood chips into pulp. That is the strength of this chemical. That is what they're dealing with.

Meanwhile, Sara, you mentioned nine unaccounted for. Heartbreaking messages on Facebook from this small community of fewer than 40,000 people on the banks of the Columbia River. People basically praying for a miracle.

Let's take a listen to what the fire chief had to say about their priorities this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT GOLDSTEIN, CHIEF, COWLITZ 2 FIRE AND RESCUE: The tank remains unstable, creating a dangerous situation for our personnel, which has created our additional planning. Crews are actively assessing the structural integrity of that tank and working on plans to stabilize that tank before additional recovery operations can safely proceed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: Now, you note the use of the word recovery there rather than rescue. There was another sound bite that really caught my eye, which was, "at the moment we are not aware of any rescues that are yet to be made that are being hampered by the situation at hand," which would suggest that it is predominantly going to be a recovery operation.

Now, ten people were already taken to the hospital, nine employees, one of whom died, and a firefighter who we're told suffered chemical burns from this white liquor, from this chemical.

So, the cause, Sara, you mentioned, that is still under investigation. Initially they were talking about an implosion, an explosion. Then they talked about a rupture. Unclear. But that is not the priority right now. The priority right now is to try and stabilize that tank and get people in there for what will be a rescue or recovery mission. Nine people still unaccounted for.

Sara.

SIDNER: And you brought us the very latest there with the fact that they're using the word recovery. And that is an important distinction from rescue. Horrible to think that the nine people missing have not made it. We will have to wait and see what happens. I know you'll be on this all day. Nick Watt, do appreciate all your reporting on this this morning for us.

Kate. BOLDUAN: Up ahead, the landslide victory in Texas for Trump-backed

candidate Ken Paxton. Can the GOP nominee keep the Senate seat from turning blue come November? And what President Trump's message is on that just this morning.

And five people found alive overnight after being trapped in a flooded cave for a week. There is new video coming in this morning of all of this.

Plus, also caught on camera, a massive tornado tearing across Mexico. We're tracking severe weather also across the United States today.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:19:24]

BERMAN: New this morning, a campaign source tells CNN the Texas Democratic Senate nominee, James Talarico, raised $600,000 in just two hours overnight. It happened to be the two hours after Ken Paxton trounced John Cornyn in the Republican Senate primary runoff. The president endorsed Paxton over the incumbent Republican. And this morning the president celebrated Paxton's win while also saying that John Cornyn will be his friend for a long time to come. This after he more or less ran him out of office.

Let's get right to CNN's Arlette Saenz, covering election night and election morning in Dallas this morning.

[09:20:03]

What's the latest from there, Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton really celebrated his resounding defeat of four-term Senator John Cornyn. A win that could have major implications for how this Senate race will play out come November in the general election matchup.

Now, Paxton had already been incredibly popular with the president's MAGA base here in Texas. But the president's decision to launch this last-minute endorsement of Paxton really pushed him over the finish line and led to this overwhelming win for him last night.

Now, Paxton very quickly, just like Democratic nominee James Talarico, turned to general election mode. We heard from both candidates last night starting to lay out some of the arguments that they will make against each other in their matchup in November.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATE NOMINEE: President Trump is the leader of our party and his endorsement in this most power -- is the most powerful force in politics. And I'm honored to have his support. And I look forward to working with him in the Senate to deliver for Texas.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I've spent most of my time in the Senate building the Republican Party in Texas and in the U.S. Senate, and I've always supported the Republican ticket. And I intend to do so again in this general election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, throughout this campaign, Senator John Cornyn had warned that having Paxton as the GOP nominee could be a liability for Republicans in November, not just in Texas, but on the national level. Paxton has survived a series of personal and political controversies here in the state, but they are sure to be campaign fodder for the Democratic nominee, James Talarico, who last night or this morning has rolled out a video laying out some of Paxton's controversies. And last night, Talarico calling Paxton the most corrupt politician in the U.S.

John.

BERMAN: This is going to be a big money and also a big negative campaign, I think, between now and November.

Arlette Saenz, in Dallas, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Jonathan.

Joining us right now is Marc Short, former senior adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, and CNN political commentator Karen Finney.

I do wish sometimes people just heard what we talk about right before we come on the air.

MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO THEN-VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I'm not sure that'd be good.

BOLDUAN: You're still -- you're still tearing up.

SHORT: I'm not sure that would be good, Kate. No. No. Probably not good.

BOLDUAN: No, not good for any of us? OK.

Let's move on to this then.

SHORT: Yes. Please.

BOLDUAN: What do you -- what do you make of Trump's morning missive, calling Cornyn a friend after, you know, he called him -- he called him very disloyal. And then he basically ran him out of office. What's Trump doing this morning?

SHORT: Look, I don't think there's any question about Trump's grip on the party. We've seen that in Kentucky. We saw that in Indiana. I think this is a little bit different. It was only a few weeks ago that he was flirting with endorsing Cornyn, remember?

BOLDUAN: Yes. Yes, this does feel different, right?

SHORT: So, I think -- I think we say this is about policy. I think the reality is that he knew that Paxton was going to win. And so, therefore, he endorsed him to get in front of that parade.

So, I don't know that he's so much of an anti-Cornyn person. I think he was trying to get in front. And knowing that Paxton was going to win.

But at the same time, I think what he's trying to do is he wants the party to rally behind Paxton. And I think he has a bigger challenge, Kate, honestly, between now and November with getting anything done legislatively, because now that you have Cassidy, now that you have Cornyn has been spurned --

BOLDUAN: And Tillis.

SHORT: You have Tillis. And there's already the -- those that were already uncomfortable with some of the agenda. It's going to be a lot harder to get most -- anything done, including reconciliation 2.0, which should be a real win for us against Democrats on border a security funding, ICE and CBP. And now it's stalled because of his own personal agenda.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SHORT: And it's going to be several Republicans who aren't comfortable with that.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I heard reconciliation and I already went, and we're back.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right. Exactly. The billion-dollar, you know, ballroom.

BOLDUAN: What is -- Karen, what is your -- let -- OK, try it this way.

FINNEY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Your one-line kind of -- you're, like, one-line takeaway tagline from last night today?

FINNEY: Trump may be solving his problem in terms of control of the party. He has not solved the problem with the general election electorate for the midterms. In that, sure, you've got control of the party. Maybe you're getting the nominees you want, but can those candidates win in a general election electorate in these states when the war is so unpopular, people are so angry about tax, you know, costs, and you're seeing him come out and literally do, you know, with the press, with the diagrams about the ballroom and talking about a $1.7 billion slush fund. People are frustrated by that.

I think also people are just exhausted. And the other thing that's interesting, we should watch this corruption messaging. It was very interesting to me that Talarico, that's where he hit. Obviously with Paxton, it's kind of a layup. But at the same time, we're already seeing in polling where people are angry and they're saying, the corruption in Washington is why my costs are high. So, point being, can you -- so you're going to see that message over and over again.

BOLDUAN: I was -- I was actually going to ask you about that because you could say you have that side of it.

FINNEY: Yes.

[09:25:03]

BOLDUAN: But could you also say the fact that Talarico went there right away? Paxton has survived the -- I mean this has been trailing him since 20-whatever-teen.

FINNEY: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Paxton survived that already. Could Texas voters be like, at the end of the day, old news. What about my affordability crisis type of thing? I don't know. Do you think this is the right way to go?

FINNEY: It's possible. Look, I think if Talarico puts together the right coalition of voters, having Gina Inhosa (ph) at the top of the ticket I think is going to help with Latino voters. With black voters, Jasmine Crockett is helpful and others are going to, you know, come in to help on that. He's, you know, already doing well with independents and moderates. And so, I think if they put together the right coalition, it's possible.

I'm going to be realistic, though. It's still the white whale. Let's be honest about Texas.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

FINNEY: But the point is, even if he doesn't win, if he does better this time, then that helps us for next time.

BOLDUAN: Go ahead.

SHORT: Look, I think there are challenges. You've nominated somebody who has basically said that it's an existential threat to the environment to eat meat. You know, somebody who said --

FINNEY: No. Come on.

SHORT: Yes. Go find the quote. I tell -- you say -- you had somebody --

BOLDUAN: Do you think -- you think tala-frico (ph) really sticks?

FINNEY: What?

SHORT: Yes, I've had somebody says there's six genders, that's not going to fly in Texas. And I think -- I think the reality is that even as -- even as flawed a candidate as Paxton is, they're still not going to win in Texas.

But if Republicans are expending resources in Texas, that's less resources they have to be putting in other battleground states.

FINNEY: Exactly.

SHORT: And that's a realistic challenge for us.

FINNEY: I was actually thinking about that. I was thinking about this exact thing when I -- when I knew you were coming on today because when you and I have talked about the redistricting fights in the past, one of the things that you have said consistently is, when it comes to, like, Trump and others going after and spending resources and time and effort on like trying to go after state senators in Indiana is taking their eye off the ball and misuse of resources in other fights elsewhere. Do you see parallels between that and this?

SHORT: I do because I'll go a step further, Kate. I think it also suppresses Republican vote. Like if you're creating this many internal fights across the country, there's going to be some Cornyn loyalists who are saying, you know what, I'm not going to go out and support Paxton. You're going to have that same dynamic in other states across the country where you've had all these fights that have been picked. And, you know, I mean, he's shown his grip. I think he keeps the Congress loyal to him. But I think that Karen's point, I think it could create challenges come November.

BOLDUAN: Look, when you say voters are exhausted, no -- I mean, everyone will say, anyone you talk to is they're just -- it is exhausting and really tragic how bottom of the barrel politics is and has been for quite some time. But at the end of the day, if we're being like pure political strategy, do you still think that it's going to be attack ad after attack ad, name call versus name call, that they're going -- that these candidates are going to lean on in order to try to secure a win?

FINNEY: Sure. And look, I think you're going to see two things with Talarico, right? He's --

BOLDUAN: So, we never learned our lessons.

FINNEY: No. Heavens no.

BOLDUAN: And we never try to lean on our better angels.

FINNEY: Heavens no.

But look, I think you are going to -- they're going to make character and values an issue, right? That is the issue terrain that they want to fight this fight on, which is a good place for them, particularly around the corruption and the fact that that is polling right now and it is something that voters are bringing up unprompted in focus groups, tells us, OK, that's -- you've got to make that argument and you've got to use it, particularly if you're going to make the argument. And Ken Paxton is going to be just one more, you know, attitude. BOLDUAN: Yes.

FINNEY: So, of course they are.

BOLDUAN: Do you really think that -- do you think Trump understands or the people around him understand how tough the road may be in the next months ahead if he just has a bunch -- if he has Republican senators saying, no, gracias.

SHORT: I don't know how much they care.

BOLDUAN: OK.

FINNEY: I think that's right.

SHORT: I think -- I mean, it may sound surprising, but for them, the one big, beautiful bill contains so many things they wanted. I don't really know how many other priorities they have. And I think it's more important for them to make sure that the members in the House and the Senate stay loyal to him.

Now, again, I think that's a short-term vision because come November and come in the second two years of the administration, it could create a lot of challenges and headaches. But right now I'm not sure they care.

BOLDUAN: That's a super interesting take. Great to see you guys.

SHORT: Thanks for having us.

BOLDUAN: Thank you for being here.

Sara.

SIDNER: It's nice to have people in studio, isn't it?

BOLDUAN: For sure.

SIDNER: All right, up -- it is.

Up next, a mother is out of thousands of dollars after scammers used A.I. to convince her that her daughter was kidnaped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you, mom. I'm so sorry. I'm so scared. And then they just cut it off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Terrifying.

All right, the countdown is on for the World Cup, and we now know officially who will be lacing it up for the United States. We'll speak live with the captain of the 1994 U.S. men's national team about what we can expect from team USA. Those stories and more ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)