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Trump Admin. Creates "Anti-Weaponization" Fund; WHO Tracking Rapidly Expanding Ebola Outbreak; DOJ Indicts Ex-Cuban Leader Raul Castro. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 21, 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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[04:31:15]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories. Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, they are suing to block with the Trump administration calls the Anti-Weaponization Fund. Some of the nearly $2 billion could end up going to rioters and election deniers. The acting U.S. Attorney General says that violent conduct will be a factor when deciding who gets some of those highly desired payouts.

And the World Health Organization says that a potential vaccine is about six to nine months away for the specific strain of Ebola that's driving a deadly outbreak in Central Africa. The agency has deep concerns about the scale and also the speed of the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Health officials in the DRC say that at least 148 deaths are thought to be linked to the outbreak. With hundreds of suspected cases.

Well, the Trump administration has indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro. The charges come from his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft that killed four people, including three Americans. The Cuban government has condemned the charges, describing them as a despicable and infamous act of public political provocation.

Will Freeman is a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council for Foreign Relations. Well, it's always great to join us. Thank you so much.

WILL FREEMAN, FELLOW FOR LATIN AMERICA STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Sure. Happy to be here.

So I'm wondering if I can just get your immediate reaction here in terms of what could happen next. For starters, President Trump said on Wednesday that, that we shouldn't expect any further escalation with Cuba after Castro's indictment. What do you think, though? Do you see these charges that were just announced leading to, to a conflict, dare I say a war, between the U.S. and Cuba?

FREEMAN: I don't think the charges alone will push things in that direction. You know, I think Trump has in the past, recent past, floated potential military action in Cuba, but he often always backs away from that quickly. We've also read reports that Republicans have pressured him not to do that, that have said that they don't want to be in another war before the midterms.

I think it's unlikely. I think it's unlikely that we're going to see a direct military strike on Cuba. Then again, you know, Trump does see as the model of success, Venezuela, the extraction of President Nicolas Maduro. And I think, you know, it's not with. It's within the realm of possibility that he could try something similar in Cuba, not to say would have the same result, not to say that things would go down similarly, but I think that it's possible that we'd see him make a kind of risky bet on that.

Again, not likely, but possible.

SANDOVAL: And then, of course, are those ongoing impacts on the Cuban people. They desperately need an end to this economic and humanitarian crisis there on the island. What sort of deal can President Trump potentially reach with Cuba's government that could -- that could bring those people some -- some relief, you think?

FREEMAN: Well, publicly, what we know is that the demand is for the Castro family to exit power. I mean, to potentially leave the island. So -- and Marco Rubio has made it very clear that maybe this economic reform is where this starts, but political reform and political change is where it needs to end.

So I think that they're pretty unequivocal that, you know, this needs to be regime change at some level, which in some ways goes further than what the Trump administration either achieved or demanded in Venezuela. In Venezuela, of course, we just saw a leadership change. But from all the comments I'm seeing when it comes to Cuba, it seems like that really, the administration does want something deeper. Yes.

I mean, I think at a minimum, Miguel Diaz Canel, the president needs to go. They've said that clearly, but it looks like they're aiming for something more fundamental.

SANDOVAL: CNN has heard from some Cubans in exile who believe that this indictment may at least add to that pressure on this government to essentially crumble. That may be on the brink. Opposite of that, though. And back on, back in Cuba, how much support does Raul Castro have, especially for those who still support the revolution?

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FREEMAN: Clearly, it's small, but it's hard to say how small exactly, right? We just -- we don't have reliable polling from within Cuba. You know, I think one way people vote is with their feet.

You've had over a million Cubans leave in the last five years, upwards of 10 percent of the population, largely young people, in many cases professionals. So many people have decided the situation so intolerable that they've simply left. And if those that are remaining, I mean, we are seeing protests sporadically break out, which is quite uncommon in such an oppressive context. You know, I think there's plenty of signs of discontent there that people really do want this fundamental change, but the question is, can you bring it about through external pressure, short of a military operation? And I'm relatively pessimistic that you can.

Now, maybe we'll see the. Again, pressure on all these different fronts mount to the point that the regime does agree to some really substantial changes, but I think they're more likely to try to get away with an economic opening and some cosmetic leadership changes and to really agree to any fundamental change of power, because, of course, that doesn't favor their interests.

SANDOVAL: Bottom line, though, do you expect Raul Castro, who's -- who's going to, to soon be turning 95 to ever set foot in a U.S. courtroom to answer these charges, or is it really meant to remain symbolic?

FREEMAN: I think it's meant to remain symbolic. You can see it was, you know, released today, a symbolic day for Cuba. So, I mean, short of an unmilitary operation that would extract him, similar to Maduro, which, again, I think is unlikely.

I don't -- I don't see this actually being one of the most important pressure points. But what the Trump administration is doing in terms of energy resources, fuel imports, is -- is far more significant, if you ask me.

SANDOVAL: I have about 10 seconds for a closing thought here, Will. Somebody who watches the geopolitics around Cuba closely, just what was your personal reaction? We've known this was coming. When it finally did, though. What do you think?

FREEMAN: Well, I think the main point here is that the Cuban people are facing a terrible humanitarian crisis, and they're still living under an authoritarian regime. And that's what we all hope changes.

SANDOVAL: Will Freeman, as always, thank you so much for the conversation and your thoughts. Appreciate it.

FREEMAN: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well, President Trump continues playing a game of political chess as primary elections unfold throughout the country. And many of his moves appear aimed at sidelining Republicans who have opposed them or just removing them from office. The president's targets, they've included House Republican Thomas Massie, who is a vocal opponents from his very own party. And Massie pushed for the release of the Epstein files and also broke with the president over government spending as well as the war with Iran.

Here's what the president was heard saying about the congressman.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We won the Massie thing. He was a bad guy. He deserves to lose.

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SANDOVAL: Pretty to the point, right? President Trump also helping House Republican Andy Barr move one step closer to filling Mitch McConnell's open Senate seat. That included persuading candidates to drop out of the race and turning Kentucky Republicans on the man that was once seen as McConnell's protege.

CNN's Manu Raju has more on the president's moves to weed out the opposition within his own party.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's decision to intervene in primary after primary, including going against sitting Republican members, has rubbed a lot of Republicans the wrong way, particularly ones who are supporting Senator John Cornyn of Texas, who is now up against Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general. Ahead of Tuesday's critical primary for Cornyn's seat. Republicans had been begging Trump to back Cornyn. Trump ultimately decided to back Pax and despite concerns voiced by Senate majority of John Thune on down the line about liabilities they see as Paxton, if you were to become the nominee, which now seems to be a very likely scenario given Donald Trump's track record of success in pushing members through and going defeating members who break ranks.

And that has been a big question on Capitol Hill. The aftermath of Trump's decision to take down go after Thomas Massie in his Northern Kentucky district, seeing Massie lose to a Trump backed candidate, and then also Trump knocking out Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, someone who had really been in line with Donald Trump on so many issues, helped push RFK Jr. through as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. But Trump never forgot his vote to convict him in his second impeachment trial after the January 6 attack.

The question now is Ken, is there any room for dissent within the Republican Party? Is there any room for independence? Is there any room for anyone who wants to break ranks with this president? The speaker of the House says there absolutely is, but he warned members not to carve out their own lane to undermine the Republican agenda.

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MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: The message is that we're advancing America's first agenda, the American first agenda. It's about putting -- bringing the country back. And America is back.

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: If you depart from Trump in any way, you will be purged. And the only thing that is correct is whatever President Trump says. And, you know, I say this as a dissident frequently in my party. It's just -- it's sad to see the Republicans go this way.

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RAJU: But there is ample Republican concern about some of the things that Trump has been pushing, including using taxpayer money to pay for security involving this new White House ballroom project. There's been a significant amount of pushback when the House and Senate Republicans were over that, as well as a $1.8 billion fund that would go towards people who say they've been victimized by the Biden Justice Department.

A lot of Republicans say that is not a good use of taxpayer money. And taken with the primary efforts going after sitting Republicans, you're seeing a lot of concern among members of the president's own party that his focus is not an issue.

Number one, affordability and the economy, something that will drive the midterm elections. They are hoping the president begins to focus on that and they can begin to unite because this is a period of significant disunity here on Capitol Hill. Many Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

SANDOVAL: And when we return, we'll take a look at why some of those prices at the grocery store keep going up. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

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SANDOVAL: Forecasters say the heaviest rainfall has now finally moved out of New York City after some thunderstorms triggered some major flash flooding here. The storms dumping almost 2 inches of rain in less than one hour in some parts of the city, and also caused some flooding and downed trees in parts of Queens and Brooklyn.

[04:45:08]

And these pictures quite similar also to what played out in Atlanta where some heavy rain flooded this highway ramp. You see drivers left with nowhere to go. The storms are part of a larger system that's brought flooding and tornadoes to the Midwest in recent days, affecting millions of Americans.

Well, U.S. stocks, they rallied after President Trump said that the war in Iran is in its final stages. When I show you where U.S. futures stand now with just a few hours left to go before the start of the trade, you see Dow futures and the S and P up in serial considerably while a dip in NASDAQ numbers. U.S. crude oil also falling below $100 per barrel. This is the first time that we see this in over a week.

You see WTI Index there at about 99 and a half dollars a barrel. That is still about 46 percent higher than where we were before the war. And it's also pushed gas prices pretty close to all-time highs. And Americans are also facing higher prices at the grocery store with inflation picking up in the last couple of months. CNN's David Goldman explaining why prices are likely to stay high.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: So why is it that prices just keep going up and up and up? Well, it's because Americans are letting them people keep spending. And we are seeing that in corporate earnings.

This past week we had Target and Home Depot and Lowe's, Walmart is coming up very soon. And all of them are saying the same thing, that American consumers remain resilient. They are spending through the gas price crisis. In fact, we know that high earners are spending a lot more. Their earnings are outpacing inflation, and they're acting like gas prices haven't really gone up at all.

Now middle income and lower income consumers are spending maybe a little bit less. At least the growth is a little bit less. But they are spending more on gas prices. They have a little leftover, especially because they just got their tax refunds and so they continue to spend as well.

So how is it that the economy remains so strong, at least from a 30,000 foot view, when everyone hates it? It's because American consumers continue to spend like nothing's wrong. We'll see if that continues to last. But for now, that is definitely the case.

SANDOVAL: Our thanks to you, David Goldman. Still ahead, sounding the alarm. A music industry leader now warning about the potential damage AI could cause to songwriters and other creators will bring your this story a moment.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. The White House could issue an executive order focusing on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity as early as today. And that's a word from some sources who say that the order will likely push for a voluntary government review of new AI models before they're released publicly. Anthropic and OpenAI, they are among the companies that are said to have engaged with the White House to create this executive order.

And the U.S. government may be concerned about the future of AI, but some music creators say that the technology it has simply gone too far already. They are speaking out ahead of the Ivors Awards ceremony that's expected to happen later today in London, and it's often described as the Oscars for songwriters. CNN's Anna Cooban spoke about the awards and their CEO, Roberto Neri.

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ROBERT NERI, CEO IVORS ACADEMY: AI is being forced on the music industry as a new thing that's happening is coming is going to take away jobs. I'm very concerned about our media composers who write for film, for TV. You know the underscores they're the ones I'm really worried about. I think the Rosalie's, the Reys, the Liberdines are going to fight back and actually be seen more.

If you look at the live industry, it's bigger than ever. People want to go on the back of COVID a few years ago. People are seeing more and more live gigs now, and I think that will only increase. AI is an absolute threat for part of our community.

We have to be concerned. We're in touch with governments and bodies around the world to ensure we're protecting the interests of songwriters and composers. But these ones that can perform and actually interact with the public, I think, they're only going to get bigger.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: So are you saying then that artists have, you know, a personality? People know what they look like, they know their voice. They are more safe than composers whose music is sort of background music to a film, for example. People don't know their names.

NERI: Exactly. So they're the other unsung heroes. Unless you're a Hans Zimmer or John Williams. You know, there are again, most people, they could walk past them on the street, they wouldn't even know what they looked like.

COOBAN: So I was on Spotify a few weeks ago, and a song got recommended to me, which is absolutely in the sweet spot, the kind of music that I like to listen to. And I was like, who is this artist? I Google it, it's AI. Now, is AI just giving people what they want to listen to?

NERI: Big part of all of the AI debate really is we've got authorization. Are the creators, the music makers, allowing their works to be trained in the first place? The answer currently is no. Then you've obviously got, if it is happening, is there remuneration going to them for someone that's basically stolen their IP.

And then lastly is transparency. And this is where it kind of leans into what you're saying. There is no transparency. You've had to look up, or you've had to do some work to find out actually that what you thought you liked was a piece of AI -generated content.

So these services need to do better to either label it appropriately or actually push it out from being there in the first place. We, our board, our Senate, want human creators to be respected and to be the point of value on these services. You pay GBP12 a month. Whatever you pay, you're not paying that for AI.

You didn't ask for AI content. Why is that being pushed on us?

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COOBAN: And you use the word stolen there. Does this feel like, like it's theft?

NERI: It's theft on the grand scale that's been going on.

COOBAN: Now, Rosalia, she is going to be awarded the International Songwriter of the Year award. Tell me about her, her craft and what makes her, in your view, someone that deserves this, this award.

NERI: She is exceptional, as I said earlier, you know, her performance is exceptional, but her songwriting ability, the album has something for everyone. People say it's a classical album, you need to dig in deep and actually listen to every track. She's mixing up the genres within the album, and she sings in 13 different languages. It's audacious. It's amazing to kind of penetrate the U.S., the U.K., for us to kind of take a Spanish-speaking artist in the way we have testament to her, to kind of break through in that way. She's a global icon. She's four albums in again, so this hasn't happened overnight for her. You know, she's been working and grafting for years.

She's worked with many other incredible people, the James Blakes, the Weekend, et cetera. So, to finally have this moment and to know how much work she put into the album from a songwriting perspective, that's why she's picking up the Oscar equivalent, which is the (inaudible) tomorrow.

COOBAN: And you've mentioned this a few times, the graft that goes into this. Do you think that what differentiates or makes human-made music special is the sort of blood, sweat, and tears of it all.

NERI: It does like to make a motion picture, to kind of look at the picture and integrate that sensibility, that kind of moment that, that feeling that makes you, you know, gives you the goosebumps or makes you cry. That's the hard craft, you know, and same with songwriting.

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SANDOVAL: Our thanks to Anna Kubin for that report. And our thanks to you for joining me the last hour from the entire news, from the entire team. Thank you so much for watching.

I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Our coverage continues with CNN Headline Express.

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