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Massie Concedes Kentucky House Primary To Trump-Backed Gallrein; Cost Of Living, Affordability Are Top Issues For Voters; San Diego Mosque Shooters Radicalized Online, Says FBI; Central African Ebola Crisis Warrants Serious Concern; Mango Founder's Son Arrested In Connection To Father's Plunging Death. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 20, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:32:41]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump's retribution campaign steamrolled another Republican rival on primary night. Congressman Thomas Massie, a vocal critic of the Iran war and also a proponent for the release of the Epstein files. Well, he lost to Trump's pick Ed Gellrein. And in Georgia, the Republican governor's race is now headed to a runoff next month.

Lieutenant Governor Burke Jones, who's backed by President Trump, will be facing off against health care billionaire Rick Johnson -- Rick Jackson. And meanwhile, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, easily winning the Democratic primary. If elected, she would become the nation's first black woman governor.

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KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR: And Georgians sent a clear message tonight that they want a fighter. Someone who will stand up to Donald Trump in all of the chaos that's raising costs, that's hurt our economy, that threatens the rights of generations that generations before us fought for and died for.

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SANDOVAL: CNN's Danny Freeman is in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where the Democratic Governor Josh Pirro promised to flip Republican seats across the state during his reelection campaign launch.

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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it comes down to it, Tuesday night's rally was really the starting point to see just how strong Governor Josh Shapiro's influence is in this critical battleground state of Pennsylvania.

And also note during his remarks, he also took direct aim at the president, calling him cruel and his allies enablers. I'll tell you, his campaign told me that they really feel that this should be a show of strength. I'll mind you, this all felt like a general election vibe.

He ran unopposed, mind you, in the primary for his reelection campaign. But it's all about trying to set up a show of force. All eyes towards November, specifically in a handful of crucial competitive districts, congressional districts, I should say, all across the commonwealth.

Four seats in particular, one here in Bucks County, two north of here in the Lehigh Valley in northeast Pennsylvania, and then one in central Pennsylvania.

[04:35:00]

Governor Shapiro has said he is all in on trying to get Republicans out of those congressional seats and get his endorsed Democratic candidates in. I want you to take a listen to how he rallied some of his supporters and took that fight basically directly to President Trump.

GOV JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): Instead of bringing down costs as he promised, Trump and his enablers are pinching the middle class and then saying he doesn't care even a little bit. That's what he said. That's cruel. And we experience his cruelty every day in Pennsylvania.

FREEMAN: So the ultimate test will be later on this year in November when Governor Shapiro will be the one at the top of the ticket. And the question will be, can he deliver? Well, I'll note that he already helped on Tuesday his preferred congressional candidate, Bob Brooks, win his contested Democratic primary in Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district. That was a big win for Governor Shapiro on the night.

But remember, many of the Republicans that he's hoping to challenge, especially some of these Congress, have been through incredibly tough fights before and actually won, especially the Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick here in Bucks County.

And of course, Shapiro himself is facing a Republican candidate at the top of the ticket, Stacy Garrity, when it comes in November as well. So none of it will be easy. But the headline today definitely feels like Governor Shapiro planting his flag and putting all eyes toward November. Danny Freeman, CNN, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

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SANDOVAL: And some voters across the United States are telling CNN that there was a common issue that was top of mind during these primaries, the economy. Americans want to make sure that their vote is going toward a candidate who will help them lower the cost of living as they struggle to stay afloat. Just listen to some of these voter voices.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gas prices up, food is up right now. A regular family cannot even live on a regular salary because everything is up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I work two jobs and it is almost still. I'm going check to paycheck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the politicians, of course, say they want lower grocery prices, lower gas prices, lower housing prices. We all want that. But who's going to accomplish it? I don't know who and how.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And while President Trump is celebrating multiple primary victories, we look at some of the CNN polling, there may not be much to celebrate right now, which found that the majority of Americans don't agree with how President Trump is currently managing the economy.

Just 30 percent of Americans currently approve of how the president is handling the nation's money matters. Disapproval. As you see, they're sitting at 70 percent for now.

Polling showing that the public is nearly evenly split on which major party would actually do a better job at dealing with some of this economic trouble. And they're also split on whether or not they think that the upcoming midterm elections will have a major effect on their finances.

Kitty Richards joins me now. She is a former official at the US treasury who is now a senior fellow at the think tank Groundwork Collaborative.

Kitty, thank you so much for taking the time to join us.

KITTY RICHARDS, SENIOR FELLOW, GROUNDWOK COLLABORATIVE: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: What were primary voters thoughts, you think on the economy as they went to the polls on Tuesday across six states? And also how does it compare to perhaps what their thoughts on the economy will be in a few months once, once it's time for midterms?

RICHARDS: You know, we're really seeing consistently that voters feel like the economy is headed in the wrong direction and they care very, very deeply about the cost of living and affordability. And that has been on voters minds throughout the past year.

But it's really the war with Iran and the effect that has had on energy prices, the fact that we just saw 3.8 percent inflation year in the last reading. We're really seeing people are very strapped and very concerned about the economy. In fact, consumer confidence has hit an all time low this month after hitting an all time low the month before.

And we're also seeing this show up in the polls. So Donald Trump's approval rating has hit its low this week and that is consistently a above his approval rating when you ask voters how they feel like he's doing at handling the economy. And that's a real turnaround. During his first term, his handling of the economy consistently ran above his overall approval rating. So voters are really, really concerned about the economy.

SANDOVAL: No, Kitty, I'm glad you mentioned the polling too. They are so telling when you look at the numbers. In fact, let's share them. Let's share some of those numbers with viewers around the world here.

At least a recent CNN poll finding that 77 percent are believe that the president's policies increase the cost of living in their community. And that includes, this is interesting, that includes a majority of Republicans who were polled. So as you see these numbers, do you see perhaps a disconnect between average Americans and their representatives in Washington when it comes to the issue on the economy?

[04:40:08]

I mean, I don't get a sense that this is being discussed enough, at least not right now.

RICHARDS: I think that's absolutely right. And it honestly predates the war with Iran. We have seen since the president announced his tariffs more than a year ago. There has been a sense that there's a disconnect between the kinds of policies that the administration is pursuing and the things that voters really care about.

And I'd say that, you know, another really important piece of this is last year through the summer, we saw Republicans in Congress with the Trump administration, pass a big budget bill that handed out tax cuts to the wealthy and a little bit here and there to ordinary working people, but also small millions of people of their health insurance over the course of the next 10 years drove up costs for energy and health care.

And we saw the expiration of the Affordable Care Act tax credits that were helping millions of people access health insurance. We've now seen premiums skyrocket this year, sometimes hundreds of dollars a month for families. And millions of people are having to forego health insurance.

And that's a huge cost driver and inflation. In fact, the president has said that we can't afford to do health care and childcare because we're fighting wars. And that is just really out of step with where the American people are.

SANDOVAL: Yes, it's also heartbreaking. We've heard some of those stories from average Americans in very tight positions, difficult positions where they have to choose between health care or, you know, some of their premiums or grocery bills. And it seems that is certainly getting worse.

But as you mentioned, it predates the war, with paychecks growing at about 3.6 percent last month, but still not fast enough to keep up with those prices that we're all seeing, which are basically going up at a faster rate. Do you basically see a moment in the not too distant future where people perhaps will start spending less? And when or if we reach that moment, how fast does the economy begin to feel even more pain because of that, with fewer spending?

RICHARDS: Yes. That consumer sentiment number that I talked about earlier, that is a big flashing warning sign for the economy. When people feel like they don't know if their paycheck is going to stretch far enough for the necessities next month, they pull back on any spending that they can.

And when they're having to pay more at the pump because oil prices are high, that's money that's just being pulled out of the economy that they can't spend on other things. And so we might start to see that rippling through the economy. And that's going to make the job market even softer than it has been and potentially can cause a recession.

SANDOVAL: Kitty Richards, grateful for your time. Thank you so much for joining us.

RICHARDS: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: And still ahead here on CNN Newsroom, honoring the victims of the San Diego mosque shooting. We'll have more details on the three men who are now being hailed as heroes for their actions to save lives.

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[04:46:24]

SANDOVAL: We want to get you some new details now on the investigation into that deadly shooting at a San Diego mosque. We're now learning two teen suspects who appear to have been radicalized online that they shared a live video of Monday's attack that killed three people at the Islamic Center. Here's the latest from investigators.

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MARK REMILY, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI SAN DIEGO: The victims who lost their lives yesterday were there to help others be part of a community that came together in peace. Instead, they were confronted by teenagers who appear to have been radicalized online to believe that they didn't belong because of how they looked or where they worshiped.

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SANDOVAL: Hence, they're investigating this as a hate crime. Authorities say that the victims of the shooting died while preventing the attackers from moving deeper into the building with their actions ultimately saving lives. CNN's Kyung Lah is in San Diego following the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Were it not for the actions of three men, a security guard, a man who's married to a teacher here at the school, and an elder who has been here since this mosque was formed, it could have been so much worse, said the police chief of the San Diego Police Department.

These three men put their bodies between violence and hatred and 140 school children who had managed to lock the doors of all of their classrooms. Take a listen to the police chief.

CHIEF SCOTT WAHL, SAN DIEGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Individuals that did this heinous act ran past the security guard, most likely not knowing he was there. You can see the security guard reach for his radio and put out the lockdown protocol. His actions without a doubt delayed, distracted and ultimately deterred.

IMAM TAHA HASSANE, DIRECTOR, ISLAMIC CENTER OF SAN DIEGO: They tried to do something. They were hiding in the parking lot next to the kitchen. They tried to do something to protect, but unfortunately they sacrificed their lives to protect the entire community inside the Islamic center of San Diego.

LAH: And here's a look at those three men Mansour Kaziha, he is the elder here at the mosque Amin Abdullah, the security guard and Nadir Awad, a member, married to that teacher here at the school. There has also, according to the police chief, there was a manifesto along with that suicide note that was recovered and that what it expressed was generalized hate.

They aren't sure if this mosque is the intended target because the hatred expressed in all of the writings left behind basically was against everyone, the teens as far as how they were radicalized. It happened online. According to the police department. They met online. They realized that they both lived in San Diego and then they met in person and then began their planning. There were approximately 30 guns recovered, all of those guns belonging to one of the parents.

There could be further charges, said the police department, depending on where this investigation goes against those parents. Kyung Lah, CNN, San Diego.

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SANDOVAL: The deadly Ebola outbreak in Central Africa has grown worse by the day. Coming up, how global health organizations are trying to respond to the spike in suspected cases.

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[04:53:39]

SANDOVAL: And at this hour, we're standing by for an update from Geneva, where the World Health Organization is expected to offer an update on the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa any moment. On Tuesday, the WHO said that the scale and the spread warrant serious concern. An American citizen who reportedly contracted the virus while working in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now being taken to a treatment facility in Berlin.

And that comes just after a diplomatic quest from the United States. It's now estimated that more than 130 deaths have already been linked to the virus, and that's among more than 500 suspected cases thus far. And the fear is starting to grow in some of the regions region's most densely populated communities.

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LEGENDE BUHENDWA, MOTORBRIKE DRIVER (through translator): I am afraid of bringing the disease home to my family because I spend the whole day transporting people. I'm afraid of dying. This is what scares me so much.

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SANDOVAL: Now to a major shakeup that has hit the world of Spanish fashion. On Tuesday, authorities arrested Jonathan Andic. He's the vice chairman of the fast fashion retailer Mango. So this comes as the death of his father, the company's founder, is now being investigated as a homicide.

CNN's Anna Cooban brings us up to speed.

[04:55:00]

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ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS ECONOMICS REPORTER: Jonathan Andik, the son of Isak Andic, the late founder of Mango, the Spanish fashion giant, was arrested in Barcelona on Tuesday in connection with his father's death, which happened in December 2024.

This was a high profile death not just because of who Isak Andic was. He was one of the world's richest people. According to Forbes, at the time of his death, aged 71, he had a net wealth of around four and a half billion dollars.

But it was high profile because of the way that he died. Isak Andic plunged down a 320 foot ravine in a popular tourist destination near Barcelona. His death was initially viewed as an accident, but a spokesperson for the High Court justice of Barcelona said in a statement on Tuesday that his case, that this case is now being viewed as a potential homicide.

Andic, who currently serves as the vice chairman of Mango's board, was arrested, detained and questioned in a court near Barcelona on Tuesday. He paid a 1 million euro bail support, according to a spokesperson for the High Court.

A judge ordered Andic to surrender his passport, barred him from leaving the country and also mandated that he attend weekly court sessions. A spokesperson for the Andic family told Reuters that they are fully confident in his innocence and that Jonathan Andic is cooperating fully with the authorities. Mango is a giant in global retail and Spanish and in the Spanish

fashion industry and it's also doing pretty well. Last year it passed posted double digit sales growth hitting $4.4 billion. And so this will be a highly followed case over the next few months. Anna Cooban, CNN, London.

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SANDOVAL: And with that, we want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Our coverage continues with CNN Headline Express, next.