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Now: U.S. Confirms Forces Targeted Iranian Military Facilities; GOP Rep. Massie Files To Run In 2028 After Being Ousted By Trump; Hours Away: Texas Polls Open, Senate Tries To Fend Off Trump-Backed Rival. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired May 25, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:28]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Welcome to a special edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brianna Keilar.

And we have breaking news. Explosions rocked Iran. U.S. Central Command just confirming that U.S. forces targeted Iranian military facilities responsible for launching a series of attacks against American warships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state media had reported blasts that were heard in the border city of Bandar Abbas. That's home to a key Iranian naval and air base along the strait. Iranian state media also reported explosions in other cities as well, the attacks coming as intense discussions are underway tonight to end the war in Iran, but a deal is not in place.

Iran's top security official declaring tonight, quote, "There will be no retreat."

And there's this from President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These incredible men and women gave their lives to ensure that the world's number one state sponsor of terror will never have a nuclear weapon. Oh, and they won't. They will never have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Trump making that guarantee on this Memorial Day. But Iran's nuclear program remains a major sticking point, as the two sides are trying to hammer out an agreement. Iran so far refusing to make any commitments on its nuclear program, insisting those discussions should take place at a later time, even as Trump steps up the pressure. Moments ago writing, "The enriched uranium, nuclear dust, will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed, or preferably in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or at another acceptable location with the Atomic Energy Commission or its equivalent being witness to this process and event." While the fate of Iran's nuclear program is unclear, there are several items that appear in this proposed deal, including reopening the strait, gradually ending the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, and extending the cease fire another 60 days to hammer out the remaining details, terms that have some Republicans concerned

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Look, we were told about 11 weeks ago by Hegseth and the Department of Defense that they had obliterated Iran's defenses. And it was just a matter of time before we had the nuclear material. Now we're talking about a posture where we may accept the nuclear material remaining in Iran. How does that make sense at all?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Senator roger wicker said the rumored 60 day cease fire, with the belief that Iran will never engage in good faith would be a disaster, but Iran does not view it as a disaster. In fact, some are declaring victory. According to state TV, Iran's president said Iran, quote, "will not surrender to excessive demands", adding negotiations are, quote, "designed to fully secure the rights of the Iranian nation."

Kevin Liptak is live outside the White House.

Kevin, what's the latest you're learning about where Trump stands on these negotiations tonight?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And clearly, these discussions are quite fragile. And these strikes that were just learning about in the area of the Strait of Hormuz, I think just underscore how precarious all of this is.

We just got a statement from central command confirming that the U.S. carried out what they call self-defense strikes in southern Iran to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces. And they say that the targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to place mines. And so the question, of course, is whether this is going to derail all of the ongoing negotiations that are still going back and forth between the U.S. and Iran.

You know, we should note this is not the first time over the course of this cease fire that went into effect last month, that the U.S. and Iran have exchanged fire. Both sides really tried to downplay those incidents. And I think both sides also see an advantage right now to not allow this to derail these very fragile negotiations.

And so we'll see exactly how this unfolds. You know, before this, there were some glimmers that perhaps these negotiations were advancing. We saw an Iranian delegation in Qatar. Qatar is a country that has been a mediator in all of this. But perhaps more importantly, it's a location of a lot of those frozen Iranian funds that Tehran wants as part of this deal.

And so those negotiations, I think, were seen as a step in the right direction. That truth social post that you read from President Trump, from the last hour or so, I think also demonstrating a degree of flexibility on the president's part.

[19:05:08]

You know, previously he had said that the U.S. would need to take possession of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Remember, it's almost 1,000 pounds of uranium, believed to be very, very deeply underground. President now, suggesting that he would be open to an alternative where its destroyed inside Iran or where it's moved to another country, you know, Russia, China, both countries that have been raised as potential facilitators for this and destroyed there. And so you do see a degree of flexibility on the presidents negotiating position.

But clearly tonight, a fraught moment in these discussions, President Trump, I think, very interested in getting this over the finish line, even as he says that he's in no rush -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly does seem interested.

Kevin Liptak, live for us at the White House, thank you.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, Nazila Fathi and Barak Ravid all joining us now.

Colonel, to you first, the U.S., as we just said, striking Iranian sites near the strait in what it says is self-defense. How significant are these strikes?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Brianna, they're very significant. And the reason theyre significant is not only because Bandar Abbas is located right at that choke point at the Strait of Hormuz, but this is also the headquarters of the IRGC or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard corps navy. So, there are navy facilities and IRGC Navy facilities in Bandar Abbas.

So any attack in this area has both tactical and strategic significance. And if there are other strikes in other areas of Iran that could compound the issue, and there could be more strategic effects as a result of those.

KEILAR: Barak, you've reported so much on these peace talks. Trump just moments ago posting about Iran's enriched uranium, saying it has to be turned over to the U.S. to be destroyed or to be destroyed in another place with the Atomic Energy Commission overseeing that process. How close are negotiators actually to a deal, particularly on this issue of Iran's nuclear material?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think they are closer than they've ever been. It doesn't mean that there will be a deal. I think a lot depends on what the Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, will decide. It will take, I think, some several more days until we will know what his position is on this.

I think that over the last few hours, there have been significant negotiations in Doha, in Qatar, between Qatari mediators and Iranian officials -- the Iranian foreign minister, the Iranian speaker of parliament. Those talks focused on the two main sticking points. One is, things that are were still not agreed upon regarding the Strait of Hormuz. And the other sticking point was the issue of the uranium enriched uranium stockpile.

And I think that President Trump's post just a short while ago, signals that there's been some movement towards a solution to this issue because the Trump's position for a long time was that all of Iran's enriched uranium should be turned over to the United States in his post today. Tonight, Trump took a different position closer to the Iranian one. Trump said that this material could either be turned over to the U.S. or diluted in Iran under the supervision of the IAEA, or moved to a third country and taken care of there.

This is much closer to the Iranian position, which to me signals that we are closer to a solution on the sticking point regarding the nuclear material.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's very interesting language.

Nazila, how do you think Iran is going to respond to these latest strikes? Is that something that could risk jeopardizing the peace talks?

NAZILA FATHI, FORMER NEW YORK TIMES CORRESPONDENT BASED IN TEHRAN FOR TEN YEARS: I mean, as you mentioned, and as Kevin mentioned, this kind of exchange has happened before. And even though they are very dangerous and they risk, the ceasefire that is in place right now, but it seems like both sides have been expecting them.

The Iranians have said today and, recently that they do expect to come under fire, that every time they were engaged in peace talks with the United States, they came under attack. I think as long as these attacks are contained and they do not continue, there is hope that the talks are going to continue. And right now as Barak mentioned, Ghalibaf and Araghchi are in Qatar, and that is very important. They are fine tuning the final points of the deal. And I think there is hope that the talks will proceed, favorably.

[19:10:03]

KEILAR: And, Colonel, as a top commander of the IRGC is claiming Tehran is stronger now than it was on the first day of the war. It's something that obviously bears, I think the necessity of a fact check. But knowing where we are in these negotiations, do you think that Iran actually is coming from a relative position of strength here?

LEIGHTON: Well, strategically, I think the answer is yes, Brianna. They think, at least in their minds, theyre looking at this as a -- in essence, a victory because they've been able to go ahead and close the Strait of Hormuz and any type of, adjustment to that will still keep in mind, in essence, that this has happened.

Now, on a tactical level or a more tactical level and perhaps an operational level, what that means is a little bit different, because the fact of the matter is, the Iranian navy has been eliminated. The Iranian air force has basically been eliminated. But they have asymmetric capability. So it's a bit of a mixed signal and standard military terms. They are weaker in strategic terms and in asymmetric terms. They may very well be a bit stronger than they were at the beginning of this conflict.

KEILAR: Yeah. Very interesting, as we're watching these negotiations.

Nazila, Iran's internet has been restricted for months, since late last year, and it was restricted further in February. But the Iranian president actually ordered it restored today, which is really something to pay attention to. Why now?

FATHI: I think politically, they want to send a message both to people inside the country and maybe the outside world, that things are getting back to normal, that they have put behind the most sensitive phase of the war, and perhaps they have more control inside the country. But I think economically, they needed to do this according to their own numbers. The economy was suffering up to $40 million a day. Iran's e-commerce had come under huge pressure. The banks were losing money.

So this was about time. The country had already suffered a lot from this internet blackout.

KEILAR: Barak, President Trump is now saying that U.S. allies in the Middle East have to sign on to the Abraham Accords to normalize their relations with Israel. If a deal with Iran goes through, its not a small ask at all.

What are the challenges there?

RAVID: So I think what's interesting in Trump's statement and, you know, during the conference call Trump had with the Arab and Muslim leaders on Saturday, he raised this request. And then there was silence on the line. And Trump joked and said, are you guys still there?

And then he said, don't worry, I'm not going to talk about it again. I'll send Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, to meet you. They'll follow up. But obviously those leaders were surprised by Trump's remark. And I think it signals that after the war with Iran, his next big thing in the Middle East is to try and expand the Abraham Accords. I think he's mainly aiming at the Saudis-Israeli peace deal because this will unlock all the other countries in the region and in the Muslim world as a whole.

The issue is twofold. First there are elections in Israel in three months. I don't see the Saudis doing or any other country doing any anything of that sort before the Israeli election takes place. And it's clear how the next government looks like. And second, if the government in Israel after these elections is the same one as it is now, I don't see any chance whatsoever for any breakthrough between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis are still asking for to is asking Israel to commit to an irreversible, time bound path for Palestinian state. The far right Israeli government couldn't be further away from agreeing to that. Therefore, I think only after the election it will be clearer if there's an opening for such a diplomatic breakthrough or not.

KEILAR: We'll be looking for that.

Barak, Nazila, Colonel, thank you all. Really appreciate your perspectives.

And coming up, is a Trump critic who just lost his primary, about to run for president.

Plus, running for cover. Our Nick Paton Walsh on the ground in Ukraine, dodging Russian drones as Ukrainian forces are making major gains in the war.

And the Trump phone is finally here. But the claim it's made in America is gone. A reporter who got his hands on one of the few phones my guest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:27]

KEILAR: Tonight, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie taking steps to run in 2028, just days after losing his primary to a Trump backed candidate. But the big question now, what's he going to run for?

Massie keeping it vague in a post about his 2028 filing, writing, quote, this allows me to raise funds to continue my political operations, supporting my position as a current officeholder and as a potential candidate for federal office. I haven't made a final decision about which office to seek. If I run, and those words come just a day after he repeatedly refused to rule out running for president.

[19:20:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Are you considering a run for president in 2028?

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I will not rule out anything. And right now I'm not going to rule in anything. I'll take some time and decide what's next, but I think I will stay engaged in some way or shape.

WELKER: Congressman, I hear you not ruling a potential run for president out. Would you run as a Republican?

MASSIE: I won't rule anything out

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Bill Kristol and Karen Finney are with us now.

All right, Bill, do you see a role or a path recognizing those are two different questions for Massie as a presidential candidate in 2028.

BILL KRISTOL, DIRECTOR, DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER: I mean, I see a role or I think he sees a role. And that's the key in terms of his deciding to run. And it's not crazy. I mean, he'll run if he runs as the candidate who told the truth about Epstein and took on the Trump administration on that, which will be something he can say that Vance and Rubio, who are part of the Trump administration, can't really say Ted Cruz hasn't been that prominent on that. DeSantis, the other obvious candidates, assuming Trump himself doesn't run. That anti- Epstein lane is there. The anti-Israel lane is there. The -- Massie is really anti-Israel. The others are either pretty pro-Israel and the kind of traditional Republican way these days, or at least maybe advanced this case, ambivalent anti-war.

Massie's been against the Trump's recent wars. So I don't think its crazy for Massie to think that there's a role. There's a path to getting some votes, whether there's a path to winning the Republican primary in 2028 as the in effect, the anti-Trump administration candidate, that's pretty doubtful. But if you're the only one and there are four or five Trump administration candidates running, you know, you could you could be a player in the primaries I should think.

KEILAR: Yeah. Karen, I think we can see how he does contrast himself potentially with other candidates. But he really has been this Republican face of the effort for transparency on Jeffrey Epstein. He's actually vowing to release more high profile names linked to the Epstein files before he leaves office.

How far does that get him politically?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Actually could do quite a bit for him. I mean, there are as we saw, that was really the first sort of crack in the armor against Trump that we saw, where there were a lot of people. I've had members of congress say to me, for example, that you know, Congresswoman Greene really thought that Donald Trump was going to release the files. I certainly never did. But there were, you know, Marjorie Taylor Greene apparently did.

And so there were supporters who really believed that it was going to happen and that it has not happened, as I say, was a real crack in the armor for Trump. So and some thought, frankly, that Marjorie Taylor Greene was going to do it before she left, so that could get him a lot of credibility.

But let's be honest, this is also the moment where, on both Republican side and the Democratic side, everybody thinks they could run for president, and everybody's going to milk that for as much as they can, for as long as they can, in order to raise their profile and try to raise money.

KEILAR: And we like to talk about it, right? We do. We're always curious. And, we, you know, if there's ever one thing I learned is that you don't know who voters want. You don't. So it's always interesting to see who is talking about running. You can't rule anyone out. And someone else who's repeatedly refused to rule out a 2028 White

House bid, Bill, is Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her travel plans are only fueling that speculation. She's visiting Montana this week. She's campaigning for a Democratic house candidate there. The latest stop this month in a series of visits across the country.

Do you think that 2028 could be her best chance to run for president? And why?

KRISTOL: Well, it's hard to know. But as you said, Brianna, I mean, one reason I think were talking about 2028 to the degree we are, is its a rare case where we have really open races, assuming Trump doesn't run again in both parties, right? There'll be no incumbent president, presumably, if Trump doesn't run or Democrat -- Democrats wide open, obviously, Republicans pretty wide open. I mean, Vance, you'd have to say maybe his incumbent vice president a bit of a favorite, but he's got some issues, especially now that he's sort of antiwar, but he's stuck with Trump and all that anyway.

So I do think it's not -- I mean, it's fun to speculate about one thing, as you said, Brianna. We don't know. I mean, people are not picking Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee at this time in 2006, which was a similar case with no incumbent running again. And so, things can go in many which ways?

I mean, I would say about AOC that the lesson of Obama is you should strike when the iron is hot and she's young and she's only a member of Congress, and maybe she should run for the senate, but I don't know if she can be the leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. It's not my wing, but a lot of people identify with it. And she's a charismatic figure, and she might take a shot.

KEILAR: Karen, we have to talk about AOC, but bill, assuming Trump doesn't run again, just quickly explain that.

FINNEY: Just can't brush. I can't brush past that.

KRISTOL: Look, let me put it this way, Brianna. Just let Karen talk in a second.

[19:25:01]

I mean, if Trump were 15 years younger, I have zero doubt that Trump would be busy and the Trump supporters would be busy explaining that the 22nd Amendment doesn't mean what it thinks or it's out of date. It doesn't matter. The public will has to prevail, and Trump would be laying all the groundwork for running again at age 82.

I think he's probably less certain that he can do it, but he would certainly I don't think he wants to sit on the sideline and watch a lot of other people compete to succeed him.

KEILAR: Okay, that's a panel for another day.

Karen, AOC, she told David Axelrod about her plans when she was in Chicago earlier this month. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): They assume that my ambition is a title or a seat, and my ambition is way bigger than that.

Presidents come and go, Senate, House seats, elected officials come and go.

But single-payer health care is forever. A living wage is forever. Workers rights are forever. Women's rights, all of that

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Okay, Karen, but you have to have a job to do those things. So what should she run for to do it?

FINNEY: You do. But here's what she's doing that is so smart. I'm not sure she knows yet which position, but what she's doing. Very meticulously is building power, building relationships.

I mean, I can tell you from internal polling that I've seen among younger voters in the Democratic Party, she is the number one figure who pops up. Barack Obama is still very popular, but people voters see her as someone who is out there, who is fighting, who is fighting for the right things, even if they don't necessarily agree with the label of Democratic socialists or socialists. They see her as someone who is intellectually honest and fighting.

And so, her popularity -- I agree with Bill about this striking when the iron is hot. She also has understood that the way you build power is to build relationships. The fact that -- I've been at two events that I was part of organizing, where she asked to come and offered not to speak, just asked to come. She did end up speaking at one of them, which was the rally in Montgomery a week ago.

And it was -- I mean, everybody wanted to get a picture with her. People were very excited she was there. So she's getting a lot of praise from people who see her very meticulously building relationships, you know, raising money for other people, helping to campaign for other candidates.

So I actually think her ambition, as she said, why not go back to the days when we had senate leaders or a speaker of the house who had the kind of power, I don't know, like a Nancy Pelosi to pass health care reform, something that is real and lasting. So I'm not sure that she's thinking just president. I think she's trying to think, how do I really create lasting change in this country?

KEILAR: Yeah. Really interesting. Showing up goes a long way.

Karen Finney, Bill Kristol, thank you for the conversation.

And coming up, we are just hours from polls opening in one of the most watched senate primaries. It's a primary that pits a longtime senator against a Trump backed candidate. More than 800,000 votes already cast. Who has the edge heading into Election Day?

Plus, Putin with a sobering new warning tonight after hitting Kyiv with a rare hypersonic ballistic missile. We'll take you there to the ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Tonight, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn is in the political fight of his life now, just hours away from the runoff election that will decide his fate.

Cornyn heading into Election Day, confident he can beat Ken Paxton and reverse the recent trend of Republican incumbents losing to Trump preferred candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): President Trump has called me a friend and a good man. I don't see my situation as the same. But, you know, in the end, it's Texans who are going to make that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Arlette Saenz is in Texas with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A Republican duel in Texas heading to its final face off.

CORNYN: I think Ken Paxton's flaws in the baggage he brings to the general election is going to be exploited to the fullest by James Talarico and by Democrats.

SAENZ (voice-over): Senator John Cornyn, in his last stand against state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who received President Donald Trump's endorsement despite concerns raised by GOP leaders in Washington.

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: I don't know if you all noticed this, but Donald Trump endorsed me this week.

SAENZ (voice-over): In a Sunday appeal to Texas Republicans, the president writing on Truth Social, "Paxton was very loyal to your favorite president, me, while Cornyn was very disloyal to me as president. Despite Trump's opposition, Cornyn is pressing forward to keep the senate seat he's held since 2002, insisting he's on the president's side.

CORNYN: I really don't think it was about me. I think it's very different from the Cassidy and Massie situation because I've been a Trump ally. I think he got frustrated with the senate not able to get what he wanted when he wanted it.

SAENZ (voice-over): Many GOP senators are not falling in line with Trump's support for Paxton, who has survived a series of personal and political scandals.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): This guy is an empty suit and will do us no service by being in the U.S. Congress.

SAENZ (voice-over): And some Republican voters say they're not swayed by Trump's pick.

RANDY MARSHALL, REPUBLICAN VOTER: I'm going to stay with Cornyn and vote for him. I think stability is the name of the game right now.

SAENZ (voice-over): Paxton is ready to turn the page. He stopped airing negative ads against Cornyn and is targeting James Talarico, the Democratic nominee.

PAXTON: The party's an open door. We have to unite. We have a common enemy, James Talarico.

SAENZ (voice-over): The GOP is testing out lines of attack against Talarico, starting beef over a common breakfast taco order.

[19:35:04]

JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: Breakfast tacos. That's right.

SAENZ (voice-over): And his past comments about reducing meat consumption.

PAXTON: How about Tofu Talarico? How about Tala-freak-o? Tala-freak- o?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And he's a vegan. He's a vegan in Texas, and you cant get elected as a vegan in Texas.

SAENZ (voice-over): Talarico, who is not a vegan, has pushed back and argued Texas is primed to turn blue in November.

TALARICO: They're going to throw everything they have at us. They'll call our movement un-Texan, un-American. They'll call us a threat. The only truth is we are a threat. We're a threat to their corrupt system.

SAENZ (voice-over): For now, Republican voters, even Cornyn supporters, still feel confident Paxton would defeat Talarico.

BOBBY WAITE, CORNYN SUPPORTER: I think we're ready enough that it doesn't matter whether it was Paxton or Cornyn, whoever the Republican is, is going to win.

CYNDEE BALDWIN, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: I think he would fare well against Talarico. I think it would be a good race.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAENZ: The Texas senate primary has amounted to the most expensive primary in U.S. history, with a GOP runoff alone totaling more than $30 million pro-Cornyn forces have outspent Paxton in advertising four to one.

And whoever emerges from this Republican runoff will face off against a formidable fundraiser in Democrat James Talarico, the Democratic nominee raised more than $27 million in the first three months of 2026 alone. The big question going forward is how much the national parties will decide to invest here in Texas come November, as both Democrats and Republicans could look at Texas as being key to their path to the Senate majority in these midterm elections -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yeah, quite a race to watch.

Arlette Saenz live for us there in Texas -- thank you.

And here with us now, Scott Braddock, a journalist who has covered Texas politics for decades. He's the editor of "Quorum Report".

Scott, more than 800 Republicans have already voted early. Which candidate does that favor?

SCOTT BRADDOCK, EDITOR, QUORUM REPORT; COVERS TEXAS POLITICS: Brianna, good to see you. That would mean to me that Senator Cornyn is still in the fight, a higher turnout. And that's by, make no mistake, compared to other elections like the general and the and the vote in March, it's a low turnout, but for a runoff, its a high turnout. Higher turnout is better for Cornyn because he's got to stay competitive in this thing.

He starts as the underdog in a runoff, because historically in Texas, an incumbent in either party who gets forced into a runoff has only about a 7 percent chance of political survival.

KEILAR: Really interesting. And Trump doubled down on this Paxton endorsement yesterday, stressing Paxton's loyalty to him. But Cornyn, as he's saying that, you know, he's been loyal to Trump.

He's not wrong. He has not been --

BRADDOCK: Right.

KEILAR: -- disloyal, even as Trump insists that he has.

BRADDOCK: Completely made up. Yeah, it's B.S., completely made up. I'm hearing this from Republican voters all over the state. They can't believe the betrayal of President Trump toward Cornyn on this.

And he's certainly not the first one to learn it, Brianna, but loyalty up to president Trump never equals loyalty back down. Cornyn has voted with him more than 99 percent of the time, as has been pointed out over and over again. He was the GOP whip, rounding up Republican votes for him.

He's been in his corner, but Trump is jettisoning him now because it's politically expedient.

KEILAR: Democrats, of course, want Paxton to win because when they look at the general, they think Talarico has a better shot against him than Cornyn. And they're not alone.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina and other Republicans agree. Here's what Tillis said.

BRADDOCK: Yeah

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILLIS: And to call Paxton ethically challenged just to call Jeffrey Dahmer suffering from an eating disorder. This guy is an empty suit and will do us no service by being in the U.S. Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right. Tell us how you really feel, Senator Tillis. But nonetheless, not mincing words.

Do voters consider that kind of thing as they're casting their ballot in the runoff here?

BRADDOCK: Republican voters are angry all over Texas that, look, the voters who are participating in a Republican runoff in this state are the kind of voters who get up in the morning ready to be angry. They turn on Fox News, and they tell them what to be angry about, and theyre angry all day.

And right now, theyre angry at incumbents, and they are listening to President Trump in his endorsement, he first called Cornyn a good guy, but then he said he was very disloyal. And it's been my experience in the last couple of election cycles that when President Trump has endorsed candidates, it doesn't just help some of those Republicans to make up their minds. He can actually change their votes.

Some Republicans have told me when they were going to vote for one candidate, the president would come out with an endorsement, and then they'd vote for the other.

[19:40:04]

He's been involved in our elections for at least three years now here in Texas, making these endorsements, and it can make a big difference.

KEILAR: All right. We'll be watching a very big day ahead in Texas.

Scott Braddock, thank you so much.

BRADDOCK: Thank you. It's my pleasure.

KEILAR: Coming up, terrifying video out of Ukraine. Our Nick Paton Walsh running for cover as Russian drones fly overhead.

Plus, we're getting our first look at the new gold Trump phone. It's a phone that does fall short of what was originally promised. The reporter, who was among the few to receive the phone, is my guest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:45:19]

KEILAR: Tonight, Putin threatening more powerful strikes on Kyiv. Russia saying it's going to target sites in Ukraine's capital and warning foreign nationals to leave the city immediately. This comes after Russia hit Kyiv with a rare and powerful hypersonic ballistic missile. The massive attack is one of the biggest bombardments since the war began. Nearly 90 people injured, including several children, over 300 sites, damaged, mostly residential buildings.

It's only the third time that Russia has used this kind of missile, as drone attacks dominate the war.

Nick Paton Walsh has more from the front lines in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They call this the road of life, but it's about survival. It is safest on foot, undisguised, ruled by tiny killer drones targeting any vehicle.

WALSH: This now pretty much all over the front lines. Tiny bits of fiber optic cable used to connect drones to their controller can go on for tens of kilometers, stopping the jamming before.

(GUNFIRE)

WALSH (voice-over): A Russian drone above. The Ukrainians open fire.

(GUNFIRE)

WALSH: Stay in the doorway.

(GUNFIRE)

WALSH (voice-over): They hit it.

WALSH: That's the impact and you have to split out because the drone will try and target groups of individuals.

UKRAINIAN SOLDIER: One, two, three.

WALSH: Sometimes one, two, three you find.

WALSH (voice-over): We are doing Sasha and Bogdans usual walk along this road between two Ukrainian positions. But it takes five hours and we are buzzed by attack drones 14 times.

WALSH: The battlefield has completely changed in a matter of a year. Nobody drives cars on this road unless you have to. Nobody drives in tanks. That's outgoing artillery.

These robots used for resupply. Up ahead, we can see people repairing the nets, a kind of key protection. But these used to resupply food, ammunition all around the front line. WALSH (voice-over): The next one is right on top of us. They hit it.

That gray streak and it falls, whirring down. But it hasn't detonated.

Debris drifts. There's been no blast. So we are alive. It may have been a recon drone, but flew like a Russian attacker.

Down the road is the Konstantinovka front, where the Kremlins advance has been slowed to a crawl at the enormous cost across the front of 35,000 Russian dead and wounded a month, says Ukraine.

WALSH: We arrive at the bunker to rest a moment and see the drone trophies, but we have to get back.

WALSH (voice-over): As soon as we emerge, they are above us again. This is the new warfare hide, shoot at the sky. Run fire drones back.

Have to walk in, but also walk out. The buzz stays with you ringing in your ears for hours, later no respite.

The gray smoke. Perhaps it hit the net.

WALSH: That was close. Loud. You could hear the shrapnel landing on the tarmac, clearly targeting that armored vehicle.

WALSH (voice-over): It is hard to see how this grind is a win, but it is.

Ukraine on foot. Robots in support, automation replacing scarce troops holding ground.

[19:50:04]

The drones never stop, but neither does Ukraine. Adapting, learning, engineering. This new warfare and hoping any edge sustains long enough to put Russia in reverse.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Toshkivka, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Coming up, I'll speak to a reporter who just got his hands on the new gold Trump phone. So how does it stack up against other phones? And what do we know about the whole "assembled in the USA" claim?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:55:13]

KEILAR: And we're continuing to follow the breaking news out of Iran. U.S. Central Command announcing U.S. forces have carried out strikes against Iranian military facilities responsible for launching a series of attacks against American warships in the Strait of Hormuz. According to CENTCOM, the targets included missile launch sites and Iranian boats attempting to place mines in the strait. Iranian state media has reported. Blasts were heard in the border city of Bandar Abbas, that is home to a key Iranian naval and air base along the strait.

So far, President Trump has not commented on the new strikes, but they come, as the president says, negotiations with Iran to end the war are, quote, "proceeding nicely". It is still unclear if or how these strikes will affect the negotiations.

And also tonight, the $500 gold colored Trump mobile phone is finally landing in some people's hands, nearly a year after it was announced, and nine months later than it was originally set to launch. But the phone is not living up to its initial promise. The screen is smaller than what was originally advertised, and though initially touted as being made in America, it is now being promoted as, quote, "designed with American values in mind."

Here with me now is Patrick Holland, the managing editor of CNET. He's one of just a few people who has gotten his hands on the Trump phone.

Patrick, you've looked at a lot of phones in your work, and you spent a whole day using this one before giving it to a colleague for further testing. What were your immediate impressions of it? Would you recommend it?

PATRICK HOLLAND, MANAGING EDITOR, CNET: Yeah, I think first, it looks nothing like the original image that we saw about a year ago, which kind of looked like an altered iPhone 16 pro. Next, the gold color in real life, it kind of varies depending on what lighting you're in. Sometimes it looks like those gold coins that Scrooge McDuck would jump into for "DuckTales".

Other times, it's got a mustard vibe to it, and yet other times it kind of looks like a urine sample. But my, my hesitation is I would not recommend it. Not because of that, but largely because we just don't know certain things about it. We don't know what the processor is in the phone. We don't know what the software and security updates will be.

For example, companies like Samsung or Google will commit to seven years. If you buy a phone, you'll know that you have until 2033 to use that phone.

And that makes me wonder if the last big worry is if this phone will actually ship. Well, a couple of us in the media do have it. I can't find many cases of actual customers who put their money down to order the phone with the phone.

KEILAR: That's the -- really interesting. The phone was initially advertised as being made in the U.S. and then the company said, as I mentioned, the -- that it was designed with American values in mind. That's a really different thing.

And you point out that the phone, the box, the manual, the packaging, it doesn't say anything about where it was made. Could you find that anywhere? HOLLAND: Well, on the box, the outside the box, it said "assembled in

the USA", now, you could interpret that with a regular phone to mean that it was put together in the country that's listed. They could be being a little literal here, and it could be that they put the phone in the box and that the box was assembled in the USA.

But we were curious about this phone. So we always run benchmark tests on all the phones we review at CNET, and we discovered that the performance of the processor and the graphics card is very similar to a Taiwanese phone called the HTC U24 Pro 5G, rolls off the tongue there.

And this phone, there's nothing inherently wrong with the phone. That's not a bad phone by any means, but it's certainly not made in the USA.

KEILAR: Did its -- it's not made in the USA. Phone shipments have been long delayed. You have yours because Trump mobile said it expedited shipments since you're part of the media, explaining these delays, Trump Mobile CEO told CNN. In recent weeks, quote, the technology business is more difficult than some may realize, as parts must be tested for quality assurances, with demand being incredibly high, orders are being fulfilled as quickly as possible, and we anticipate all will be completed within the next several weeks.

What do you think the phones shipment to consumers has been like? Why has it been like this, plagued with so many issues

HOLLAND: I'm not sure, because most companies you want to keep that communication out there about what's going on. There's another phone that's $500 that's being launched for the first time ever by a company called Clicks. They make these keyboard cases for the iPhone, and theyre launching their own phone. And every step of the way, they've kept their customers informed about what the design is, things theyre improving or changing about it.

But to this day, there's just basic things about this phone that we don't know. And that's what concerns me. If you did order this phone, it doesn't matter what your political persuasion is. You shouldn't be ripped off.

KEILAR: All right. Patrick Holland, thank you so much for being with us. Illuminating as you gave that phone a test drive. And we appreciate it.

Thank you so much for joining us today.

The CNN film, "WHY WE DREAM" starts now.