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U.S. Peace Talks Continue with Iran; Trump Defends "Anti- Weaponization" Fund; China Mine Explosion, 90 Dead; Atlanta and Houston Airports OK to Screen Travelers from Africa; Grave Economic Challenges to U.S. and Globally; AI Planes; Kyle Busch 9-1-1 Call. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired May 23, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Here's what's ahead.

U.S. President Trump weighs next steps in the war with Iran. We'll have a live report with the latest on diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

Health officials work to stop the spread of a deadly Ebola outbreak as the threat level across the Democratic Republic of Congo rises to very high. We'll look at how the U.S. is impacted as well.

And the death toll in China is rising dramatically after a coal mine gas explosion. We'll go live to Beijing for an update.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Hong Kong, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Ivan Watson.

WATSON: All right. President Trump is at the White House this weekend weighing his options on the war with Iran. He met with top national security officials Friday to discuss possible next steps.

We're told Mr. Trump has been presented with options for restarting military action, as he's been frustrated with the pace of peace talks.

It's notable that the president is starting the U.S. holiday weekend in Washington, because his plan had been to go to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club after a rally in New York. At that rally, he gave supporters an update on the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They're not going to ever have a nuclear weapon. They're never going to have a nuclear weapon. And we'll have that over with soon. It'll be over with soon. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Meanwhile, delegations from Pakistan and Qatar are now in Tehran in hopes of ending the conflict. Iran's foreign ministry says it will take further negotiations because the two sides are not close to reaching a deal. CNN producer Sebastian Shukla joins me now from Berlin.

Sebastian, good to see you. You know, it's been 1.5 months, around that, since the U.S. agreed and Iran agreed to what was initially a temporary two-week ceasefire. Both sides have used force on occasion since then but the ceasefire has kind of held.

Is there the possibility that it could unravel this weekend?

SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. Good morning, Ivan.

We've oscillated between, is peace really on the cards or are we about to see a major escalation?

And I think the deducing, what is coming from Washington over the last 24 hours or so, seems to suggest or is fueling the speculation that the U.S. may be looking or considering a military action.

Again, that meeting that you said that took place in the White House took place between Donald Trump, his vice president JD Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, we don't know exactly what was discussed in that meeting.

But just the grouping of those people seemed to suggest that that was a military meeting more than anything else.

And then the president himself saying that he's going to spend the next weekend or this weekend in Washington because, as he wrote on Truth Social, "circumstances pertaining to government and my love for the United States of America" is -- does say something.

He's even not attending his son, the namesake Donald Trump Jr.'s, wedding in the Bahamas. So all of that is feeding a kind of speculation as to what exactly the plans for the United States are.

But Ivan, it's notable that the U.S. is still trying the diplomatic route. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state who's traveling to Europe and India, briefed reporters about what he thought the 0latest update and the status of the talks were with Iran. Take a listen to what he had to say.

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MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: So I think there's been some progress but I wouldn't. We're not there yet. And hopefully that'll change. It may not.

Honestly, it may not. We're -- we're dealing with a very difficult group of people. And if it doesn't change, then the president's been clear he has other options. He prefers the negotiated option and having a good deal. But he himself has expressed, you know, concern that maybe that's not possible.

But we're going to keep trying. I know our guys are still working on that very hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHUKLA: On the Iranian side. Ivan, we know that the Iranians with the Pakistanis and the Qataris are also meeting.

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But those discussions are -- we're not there yet, either. The Iranian foreign ministry are saying that the U.S. and Iran are not close. So there is -- there is -- it's still a gray area, Ivan. We don't know exactly what is going to happen next.

We know that the president has been increasingly frustrated with the way that the talks have been being carried out. He said earlier this week that he canceled military action at the request of the Gulf nations earlier this week.

So will this weekend mark the moment that he finally says enough is enough?

Or will this be the moment that we really see a diplomatic breakthrough, Ivan?

WATSON: That's right because we've seen president Trump issue threats and then pull back at the last minute several times. And then there's the question of resuming full-scale combat operations.

What can that accomplish, given that that a couple of months of fighting didn't really end or resolve the situation?

Sebastian Shukla live from Berlin, thank you very much for bringing us up to date there.

Now U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio, he is in India now for a mix of political and cultural events. He was in Kolkata earlier to visit a children's home before heading off to New Delhi.

The trip to India follows Rubio's Sweden visit, where he met with NATO's foreign ministers and, while there, he was asked whether NATO might be involved with ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Cuba.

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QUESTION: Will there be a role for NATO to play when it comes to the situation in Cuba?

RUBIO: NATO is far from Cuba. I -- we haven't talked about that at all.

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WATSON (voice-over): All right. And meantime, in the streets around the U.S. embassy in Havana, they were packed on Friday because thousands gathered to protest the decision this week to indict Cuba's former president, Raul Castro.

And that was in connection with the downing of two civilian planes three decades ago. Castro's daughter was at the demonstration and told Cuban government TV that her father remained unfazed.

MARIELA CASTRO, RAUL CASTRO'S DAUGHTER (through translator): He's doing very well. Very calm, like an old guerrilla fighter, he watches and smiles. He also knows what he has to do. Besides, he always said, no one takes me alive. They'll find me fighting.

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WATSON: To the U.S. now, where immigrants in the U.S. who want an American green card will now have to leave the United States to apply for one. The Trump administration now requires people seeking the residency visas to return to their home countries to apply.

And that could affect hundreds of thousands of people who would have to leave jobs, families and communities for months while their case is processed. The cards give holders the right to live and work in the U.S. with a path to citizenship.

A federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, citing a tainted investigation. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador from the U.S. last year, despite a judge's order barring his removal to the country. CNN's Paula Reid reports.

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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: One of the Trump Justice Department's most high profile criminal cases has been tossed out by a judge. Now Kilmar Abrego Garcia came to national attention after he was sent to El Salvador despite a judge's order saying the administration could not remove him.

Now once he was returned to the U.S. the Justice Department filed a criminal case against him, accusing him of transporting unlawful migrants back in 2022. Now his lawyers have been fighting this case, arguing that it should be tossed out because it's politically motivated.

Now on Friday, the judge overseeing this case agreed, saying the objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego's successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador. The government would not have brought this prosecution.

Now the Justice Department pushing back against that on Friday, alleging that this judge is an activist and that this dangerous decision is going to be appealed. So over the next couple weeks and months, we will watch to see how this appeal plays out -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.

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WATSON: The Trump administration is now facing a second lawsuit to block its anti-weaponization fund. Critics call it a slush fund, which even the administration admits could give money to violent January 6th offenders. But president Trump is describing it as an act of service. Here's how he's defending it in a post.

Quote, "I gave up a lot of money in allowing the just announced Anti- Weaponization Fund to go forward.

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"I could have settled my case, including the illegal release of my Tax Returns and the equally illegal BREAK IN of Mar-a-Lago, for an absolute fortune. Instead, I am helping others," end quote.

But just a few days ago, he said he knew very little about the fund.

It's been very well received. I have to tell you, I know very little about it. I wasn't involved in the whole creation of it. And the negotiation.

Since then, the backlash has been growing by the day. And now the president is facing a revolt by members of his own party. Some of them are taking issue with the fact that the nearly 6,600 people charged with crimes relating to January 6th could be eligible for a slice of the $1.8 billion.

CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein says president Trump is putting Republicans in an intolerable position.

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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Look, this was clearly too much for many Republicans for really obvious reasons of not only policy and moral reasons but also political reasons.

I mean, Trump keeps giving Democrats bullet points for their core argument in 2026.

What is the core Democratic argument in 2026?

It is that you elected Donald Trump to solve your cost of living problem and all he has done is make it worse through the tariffs, the war and gas prices, the cuts in federal health care assistance while enriching himself, his family and his allies.

And if, you know, go through the list, the ballroom. Now this slush fund for including people who attacked police officers on January 6th. I mean, the degree to which he is putting them in an intolerable political position, you know, you really can't overstate it.

But I will note that Michael Whatley, who is the Republican candidate in North Carolina, as opposed to the senator already from North Carolina, you know, came out in defense of this today. The other side -- yesterday. The other side of the coin is what Trump has been able to do in Republican primaries.

So you still see a lot of Republicans reluctant to differentiate or disagree with him on any front. But this certainly seems to be too much for anyone, especially in any kind of competitive race.

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WATSON: Another member of president Trump's cabinet has announced her departure. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard says she's resigning at the end of June. In a letter to the president, Gabbard says she needs to be by her husband's side after he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.

President Trump says Gabbard's deputy Aaron Lukas will step in as acting intelligence chief.

Also praised Gabbard on social media, writing, quote, "Tulsi has done an incredible job and we will miss her."

The comments come despite Gabbard's often contradictory messaging while in office. Her remarks on Venezuela and Iran sometimes put her at odds with the White House.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.

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WATSON: All right. Let's move to China now where there's a developing story from the north of the country. That's where authorities are dealing with the country's deadliest mining disaster in more than a decade. Our Mike Valerio joins us now live from Beijing.

Mike, can you bring us up to date?

What has happened there?

It sounds like just a terrifying disaster very deadly as well.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, its huge. Ivan. Absolutely. There are 90 people who have lost their lives. That is the latest death toll that we have at this hour. Its been going up and up and up.

When we woke up at sunrise to start hearing this news, the news, the death toll was at 3; at lunchtime, around 50, rising to 82 when we came on the air here at CNN. And now at this hour, it stands at 90. So I know for so many of our viewers who are spread around the world,

it's hard to put accidents like these in perspective. But this, again, as Ivan has rightly said, this is the largest, deadliest coal mining disaster in more than a decade.

When were talking about the industrial giant that is China, so large that Xi Jinping, China's leader, is getting involved, releasing a statement very early on to Xinhua news, the state media main news outlet saying and pretty much ordering an all-out rescue when there were 247 people who were underground working in this mine.

In Shanxi province in Zhengzhou, which is about, I'd say, a seven-hour drive south of here, if you get in your car and go down the freeway from Beijing. So what we know 7:30 is when this blast happened.

And according to our incredible colleagues at CCTV, who have actually managed to interview a miner who was there when this explosion happened.

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He's quoted -- his name is Wang Yong (ph). And he said that he saw, Ivan, some big blast of smoke, smelled something that was like sulfur. He described it like firecrackers.

And then told CCTV, quote, "I told people to run. While running, I saw people had been choked and knocked down by the smoke."

He said that he was knocked unconscious for what he estimates to be an hour. And then there were other people unconscious around them -- around him. He woke him up and they all got out of there.

So we should note before we go, unclear if people are still trapped. But at one point, Ivan, there were more than 400 people working on the scene. So it's still developing. We'll check in with you in the next hour, Ivan

WATSON: All right. Mike Valerio in Beijing, do keep us up to date because it sounds like there could be many more miners potentially missing. Thank you.

VALERIO: Yes.

WATSON: Next on CNN, we'll have the latest on the new risk level for the Ebola outbreak and what aid workers are saying about the world response to the deadly virus.

The U.S. Federal Reserve gets new leadership at a time when American consumers are struggling with confidence and high prices, just a tad. The details coming from an economist. Stay with CNN.

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WATSON: Welcome back.

The World Health Organization has revised the risk level of the Ebola outbreak to very high in the Democratic Republic of Congo while the global risk remains low. The WHO says at least 177 deaths are thought to be linked to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC, with nearly 750 suspected cases.

And there is no approved vaccine or treatment for this strain of the virus. Here's the director general of the World Health Organization.

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DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: We're now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level and low at global level.

So far, 82 cases have been confirmed in DRC, with seven confirmed deaths. But we know the epidemic in DRC is much larger.

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WATSON: Now it's important to note that the virus could have been circulating for months before it was detected. Aid workers and experts say the Trump administration's withdrawal from the WHO and funding cutbacks have hampered the world's ability to respond to the deadly Ebola crisis.

Meantime, the U.S. has cleared international airports in Atlanta and Houston, as well as Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C., to receive passengers who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days.

Joining us now from San Francisco is Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California in San Francisco.

So thank you very much for joining here to help us understand this outbreak better. I'd like to hear your concerns, Doctor.

What measures would you like to see authorities taking in the DRC and in neighboring countries right now?

And are they taking those steps?

DR. PETER CHIN-HONG, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA/SAN FRANCISCO: Yes, Ivan, it's been very challenging to take the necessary control procedures that they're used to doing, mainly because there isn't enough staffing around.

For months, they've had problems with getting enough supplies, doing the right surveillance. So it's playing catchup. I think what you'd want to have done is simply to take the people who are infected -- and, you know, they're infected because you're testing them -- and separate them from the rest of the community.

That has proved challenging because of conflict, because of population migration and because of the funding cuts that we've talked about.

WATSON: Yes. I mean, those funding cuts and the U.S. not being part of the WHO right now, where do you see that kind of that affecting the crisis response?

CHIN-HONG: Well, what happened was that there was a four-pronged decrease in funding in different ways (INAUDIBLE) of course. We provided about 20 percent of their budget before, which is about almost $1 billion a year.

The second is, of course, decimating USAID, which is kind of the first response to outbreaks like this one. And that might have resulted in, you know, the wrong temperature, for example, of the tests initially that was sent to Kinshasa.

The third prong is of course, cuts in the CDC. And there are about more than 2,000 jobs that have been lost.

And finally, as to make matters worse, the U.S. decreased its Uganda and to Democratic Republic of Congo. So all of these things happen simultaneously and resulting in all of the downstream effects that we're seeing.

WATSON: So we've seen the U.S. government declared these at least three airports that, anybody traveling from this part of Africa to the U.S., they should -- they should travel to these airports.

What measures would you like to see governments around the world taking right now as central Africa wrestles with this medical crisis?

CHIN-HONG: Well, I think the most important thing, Ivan, is providing aid. The U.S. through the State Department has promised about $23 million.

But if you think about what we used to contribute to WHO and USAID, you're talking more than $1 billion. So I think there's a lot more that can be done. And of course, technical support, laboratory support. And it's probably, hard to imagine that you can, you know, try to divert all of the potentially exposed people to a couple of airports.

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I think we probably need to mobilize more airports. We need to prepare health systems across the world, not just in facilities like the University of Nebraska, where we heard about the hantavirus quarantine, and isolation facilities but much more widespread and in more parts of the world.

You know, I think that, you know, we have to be vigilant and, you know, not just for this particular outbreak for -- but in general for any situations that are emerging.

WATSON: And quickly, Doctor, there have been previous Ebola outbreaks on the African continent.

Any lessons that can be applied in the case of this crisis?

CHIN-HONG: Well, I think that what we learned from 2014, when it impacted the U.S. probably the most with 11,000 deaths around the world, is that, again, the system has to be resilient generally and not just isolated.

We learned that, you know, science is one thing but fear and emotion can really impact the way the community responds to pandemic. So I think stigma, all of those things, misinformation, they're really, really just as important as the science.

WATSON: All right. Dr. Peter Chin-Hong with the University of California in San Francisco, thank you very, very much for bringing us up to date there.

All right. We're going to take a quick break. For our viewers in North America, I'll have more news in a moment. For our international viewers, "CNN CREATORS" is coming up next.

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WATSON: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and Canada. I'm Ivan Watson, broadcasting live from Hong Kong.

President Trump's pick to lead the Federal Reserve has been sworn in. Kevin Warsh will hold his first Fed meeting as chairman next month. The 56-year old is taking on one of the world's most powerful economic positions during a time of geopolitical conflict and volatile financial markets. Warsh discussed his vision for the country.

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KEVIN WARSH, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Inflation can be lower, growth stronger, real take-home pay higher. And America can be more prosperous. And no less important, America's place in the world more secure.

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WATSON: Now Warsh is widely seen as aligned with Mr. Trump.

The president said Friday that he wants Warsh to be, quote, "totally independent."

Warsh is coming in as U.S. consumer sentiment hits an all-time low. That's according to the latest survey from the University of Michigan. The May Consumer Sentiment Index dropped for the third month in a row, falling more than five points from the previous record low that was set in April.

The oil supply crunch and price shocks tied to the Iran war have worsened sentiment that already was soured by years of inflation and the affordability crisis.

The first major travel holiday in the U.S. since the war with Iran began is underway. And now, more than ever, people cannot escape the high cost of fuel. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is now $4.55. Before the war, it was under 3 bucks. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich runs the numbers from a gas station in New Jersey.

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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's expected to be a record breaking Memorial Day weekend, 45 million Americans expected to travel this weekend, according to AAA.

About 39 million of those people expected to drive, stopping at gas stations across the country just like this one here in New Jersey. Heading into the holiday weekend, the national average is $4.55 a gallon. That is up more than $0.50 from a month ago and that is up more than $1.50 since the war with Iran started at the end of February.

Now this is the second most expensive Memorial Day weekend for gas prices since 2022, when prices were $4.61. Heading into that holiday weekend, that was when the war with Russia and Ukraine broke out.

But I've been speaking to drivers all day, who have really been in a couple different buckets, some saying that they're not going to be traveling at all, some saying that they're just going to bite the bullet and others saying they are going to be making changes to the way that they travel.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not really like traveling a lot because of the gas prices. So, you know, just limiting my travel around New Jersey because it's too much, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, you know, depending on how expensive gas gets, like probably I'd have to, you know, cut down on how much I'm going. I'd like to go like three or four times but might have to be, it might have to be a little less this year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw it was $4.62 and I passed a few places that were like $4.40. So I was like, I just kind of have to bite the bullet and get it here. But wish I didn't have to for sure. It'd be nice if it was like $3.50 again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been thinking about the gas prices, joking that we needed to take out a loan for the weekend.

YURKEVICH: Now for the first time in nearly four years, all 50 states now have an average gas price of more than $4 a gallon. There are seven states that have an average of more than $5 a gallon. Think Hawaii, Oregon and California.

But this is all happening because of the war with Iran. The Strait of Hormuz, that critical passageway for 20 percent of the world's oil, has effectively been closed down and that has pushed oil prices up. And then gas prices follow.

According to GasBuddy, if things stay as they are between Memorial Day and Labor Day, we could see an average of about $4.80 a gallon. Of course, if things were to change in the Middle East, prices could come down. Now we are not approaching that $5.02 record that was set in 2022. But we are certainly creeping up there. Back to you.

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WATSON: All right.

[04:35:00]

Vanessa Yurkevich there.

Now joining us live from Los Angeles is William Lee. He's the chief economist and managing director of Global Economic Advisors.

Great to see you. I want to ask, I mean, you've just heard it there. You've got abysmal consumer confidence, a global energy crisis and rising energy costs. And then we don't know whether or not full combat could resume around Iran any day now.

How difficult is this situation for Kevin Warsh to be inheriting right now?

Can he plan when you don't know whether or not the war will reignite in full force or not any day to the next?

WILLIAM LEE, CHIEF ECONOMIST AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL ECONOMIC ADVISORS: Well, I think you've just hit the issue right on the head. Kevin Warsh is coming into a situation where the economy is giving off a very mixed set of signals. The affordability problem is a real one.

More and more consumers are expressing the fact that I -- my wages just aren't keeping up with the cost of living. Every day, prices are shooting up and my wages are not. And I think the real issue here is that the economy is doing incredibly well. Growth is estimated by the Atlanta Fed to be at a 4 percent pace this quarter.

And yet people are finding it harder and harder time to find a job if they lose a job. But if they have a job, their wages aren't going up fast enough. But I think the only way to really solve the affordability problem is not with interest rates but it's rather finding jobs that are higher paying.

And that is coming about because the productivity boom that we're experiencing, as more technology is being put into place and AI is coming online, we're finding that workers are getting paid more because they're being more productive. So for those lucky workers that continue to hang on to their jobs,

they're expected to have higher and higher wages as -- and make up for the high cost of living.

The unfortunate side is that more and more people are worried that they're going to lose their job because of AI.

And there again, Kevin Warsh is coming in and saying, you know, we can't solve that problem with interest rates. That's a technology problem. That's a social problem that has to be -- is outside the realm of the central bank.

What the central bank can do is set the environment so that we can spur on more investment and make it more productive for companies to invest in productivity-enhancing investments that will allow people to be paid higher and higher salaries.

So he comes in with a very big set of problems ahead of him but he's also coming in with a reform agenda, a reform agenda that says the Federal Reserve will have to change its way of doing business.

Because it hasn't really been able to help the U.S. economy grow in a direction that allows more stuff to be made at lower cost and contain the inflation rate.

WATSON: So you said that he could do take measures to help spur further investment.

What kind of measures could the Federal Reserve be making to help with that in this very difficult economic climate?

LEE: Yes. In fact, he there's he's been coming in with the reputation of what people call the Warsh maneuver, which is to say he thinks he can lower interest rates if he contains the inflationary impact of lower rates by tightening up on federal -- the Federal Reserve's balance sheet.

Which is to say, if they can somehow contain the amount of liquidity that's out in the banking system, that allows banks to make loans, he can charge a lower price for whatever loans are made so that that maneuver allows more people to be able to have lower cost mortgages, businesses to have lower priced loans.

And that will help encourage the kind of investment we need to have a more productive economy. Now it's a very controversial proposal he's coming up with because the Fed has really expanded its balance sheet because of the various crises we face to the point where it has really gotten out of control.

And I think he's come in and saying the Federal Reserve really has to return to the core function of central banking, right?

Making sure that loans are affordable. But at the same time allocate it in a way that goes to more productive investments.

WATSON: Can I ask, you know, his predecessor, Jerome Powell, came under unprecedented pressure from president Trump, who wanted interest rates lowered. So president Trump has said that he wants Kevin Warsh operating with total independence.

What are you going to be watching to see whether or not that independence is, in fact, real, now that we have a new Federal Reserve chairman?

LEE: Well, maybe I can reset your question a bit because, first of all, in the history of the United States, there's been no president that has not asked for lower rates. There are famous stories of President Johnson going to the Fed chair during the Vietnam War.

[04:40:00]

Shoving (ph) up against the wall and saying, my boys are dying in Vietnam. You won't let me have lower rates and more money.

And so, you know, president Trump is nowhere near that kind of aggressive bullying. But he has called for lower rates, just as every other president has. And I think the key to whether or not Chair Powell was really subjected to independence questions about policy or about mismanagement is really an open question.

I think Chair Powell has said he decided to stay on at the board because he's been charged with managerial malfeasance, that he's not used the funds that he had been in charge of for the building, restructuring and for the Fed budget in general in a wise manner.

In the last 20 years, the Federal Reserve mission creep has really grown. And the Federal Reserve has gone well beyond the core central banking into DEI hiring practices and the climate research, things that didn't -- really doesn't contain -- isn't part of the mandate for the central bank.

Kevin Warsh is coming in and saying, let's return to the principles of central banking the way Alan Greenspan had expressed it. And I think he will be trying to bring the Fed back into a more narrow focus and keep the Fed away from the financial markets, the Fed away from people's everyday lives.

Because a good central bank should not be something that is in the news all the time. It should be doing its work, keeping prices stable and keeping employment high, without making a lot of noise, without making a lot of news.

And that's, I think, the objective that Kevin Warsh is coming in with. And as far as independence is concerned, as I said, Chair Powell is not being accused of being dependent on the president for monetary policy settings.

But rather he's being accused of not managing his resources wisely and allowing mission creep and cost overruns to come out. So it's really an issue of managerial malfeasance rather than Fed policy independence that's on the line here.

WATSON: I think that senator Thom Tillis might argue differently, given how he held up the new chairmanship. But William Lee, thank you very, very much for bringing us up to date. And we'll be watching, of course, to see how, the Federal Reserve moves forward in this economy. Thank you very, very much.

LEE: Thank you.

WATSON: All right.

Now would you get on an airplane piloted by artificial intelligence?

Our Pete Muntean did. And he takes us on the journey as he explores the future of flight. That is coming up after the break.

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WATSON: Welcome back.

I'm looking forward to this next story, which apparently takes autopilot to a whole new level. A Boston startup has developed a system where artificial intelligence can fly planes and even talk to air traffic control. And our Pete Muntean went on board one of these flights and filed this report.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm in the copilot seat of a Cessna.

MATT DIAMOND, TEST PILOT: One, two, three good.

MUNTEAN: And I'm about to find out what happens when the pilot flying is not human but artificial intelligence.

TIM BURNS, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, MERLIN LABS: This is our experimental caravan --

MUNTEAN: Tim Burns is the Chief Technology Officer at Merlin Labs, a Boston startup developing a system that can be bolted into existing airplanes. Merlin says its system can fly the plane, talk to air traffic control and even help make decisions about weather and routing.

BURNS: We're trying to capture the judgment and abilities of a real aviator.

MUNTEAN: Merlin says it has completed hundreds of test flights to see how the system performs in real world conditions, though it is likely years away from carrying passengers. In the back of the plane, one of the company's engineers is monitoring what the AI is doing in real time.

DIAMOND: I don't know if I know exactly what I'm in for here.

MUNTEAN: Alongside me is test pilot, Matt Diamond, who on this flight won't be doing much piloting at all. So this is just a manual take off?

DIAMOND: This is going to be an automated take off.

MUNTEAN: Oh, this is an automated take off.

DIAMOND: Yep.

MUNTEAN: Meaning the AI system is flying the airplane from the very start. Wow, nicely done. The next part of the demonstration, communicating with air traffic control.

Merlin System displays its language processing on an iPad as it listens to a mock controller, repeats the instruction and then flies the airplane to match it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Magic 01, turn left heading 090 descend 2000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Left 090 and down 2000 Magic 01.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

MUNTEAN: We're at about 1,500 feet now over Newport, Rhode Island and we just turned on to the final approach here at Newport State Airport. Now this is going to be an automated landing and this system will fly the airplane all the way down to the pavement.

DIAMOND: It's a challenging problem for the automation but once you crack the code, then it's so much easier on the pilot.

MUNTEAN: You seem pretty confident over there.

DIAMOND: Oh, yes.

MUNTEAN: You seem pretty relaxed. Should I be this relaxed?

DIAMOND: Yes. Absolutely.

MUNTEAN: OK. All right. As a pilot and a bit of a control freak, this is not exactly easy for me. But the system lines up with the runway and flies a gradual descent all the way to touchdown. Smooth, easy.

DIAMOND: Right on center line.

MUNTEAN: Even still, putting AI in control of an airplane raises big questions about safety and trust. Merlin CEO, Matthew George.

MATTHEW GEORGE, CEO, MERLIN LABS: What we're building is certainly very sci-fi but we're doing it in a responsible incremental way.

MUNTEAN: Will this put pilots out of jobs?

GEORGE: It won't. This is sitting alongside pilots, not necessarily replacing pilots and enabling those pilots to do more of what they do best, which is operate aircraft safely.

MUNTEAN: That could be appealing to airlines worldwide, which will need to hire more than 600,000 new pilots over the next 20 years according to Boeing. Merlin has already secured a $100 million contract with the U.S. air Force to eventually fly cargo planes without pilots on board at all. But convincing passengers may be the hardest part.

MIKE TANNENBAUM, PASSENGER: As long as it's safe and more efficient and tested out in advance, I'm for it.

MEG MCKNIGHT, PASSENGER: But I don't know if I trust AI in the air.

[04:50:00]

I doubt I trust it.

STEVE COLEMAN, PASSENGER: I like the idea of humans having control. I don't like the idea of machines having control.

MUNTEAN: The push for AI in aviation is also gaining support in Washington. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that the Trump administration sees AI as a way to help modernize the nation's strained air traffic control system.

Though Duffy stresses that human controllers will always remain in charge of the airspace. At the same time, researchers say this technology still faces major safety and public trust hurdles.

The head of the Airline Pilots Association says that technological advances can improve aviation safety but he insists there will never be a substitute for two pilots controlling a commercial flight. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: All right. We'll be right back after this break.

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WATSON: Welcome back to the program.

We're learning new details about the health of 41-year-old NASCAR driver Kyle Busch in the days leading up to his death. A 9-1-1 call obtained by CNN indicates that Busch needed medical attention on Wednesday after coughing up blood and experiencing shortness of breath.

[04:55:00]

In the recording, the caller states that Busch was lying on the bathroom floor but was awake; 24 hours after that call, Busch's family announced his sudden death.

This comes as NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell refused to answer questions about Busch's health, citing privacy for the family. Earlier, during a press briefing, he celebrated Busch's legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE O'DONNELL, NASCAR CEO: To me, Kyle Busch just defines what it means to be a racer in NASCAR. Everything about it, the fire, the greatness, the heart that sometimes you rarely saw. The sport was truly lucky to have him. We're going to do our damn best to continue his legacy and support his family.

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WATSON: And meanwhile, president Trump honored the racing icon as well, calling him a, quote, "true talent and a legend."

All right, to sports now where the Oklahoma City Thunder took care of business in Texas, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in game three of the NBA Western Conference finals.

The Spurs exploded from the start, leading the Thunder 15-0 but the drought didn't last long. Oklahoma City continued to push and pulled off the victory 123-108. They now lead the series 2-1. Game four is set for Sunday in San Antonio.

WNBA star Caitlin Clark returned to the court after missing a game with a back injury. She put on a show, scoring 22 points to lead the Indiana Fever to a 90-82 victory over the Golden State Valkyries. That's the third straight win for the Fever.

All right. Thanks for joining us for this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson. I'll be back with more news after a quick break.