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U.S., Iran Exchange Strikes Despite Fragile Ceasefire; Five of Seven Trapped Villagers in a Cave in Laos Successfully Rescued, Search Continues for Two More. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 28, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hey everybody, it's wonderful to have you with us. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, and here's what's coming your way in the next hour.

Iran and the U.S., they are trading new strikes, further testing the already fragile ceasefire, how the region is responding to the latest escalation.

And rescuers in Laos, they are celebrating after finding five of seven villagers alive, trapped deep inside a flooded cave. We have a live report on what's next in this harrowing operation.

Let's also look at the international humanitarian effort to stop a dangerous and deadly outbreak of measles in Bangladesh, already claimed hundreds of lives.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: And we do want to begin this hour with Iran's latest retaliation against the U.S., the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps now says that it launched an attack on an American air base. Now, it's still not clear exactly which one, but they do say that it's the same base that carried out a new round of strikes in Iran.

A U.S. official is telling CNN that the U.S. was targeting a military site near the Strait of Hormuz that was being used to launch attack drones. The official now says that the move was purely defensive amid ongoing efforts to reach a peace deal. Here's what President Trump said on Wednesday about where those ongoing negotiations stand.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Iran is very much intent, they want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven't gotten there and we're not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that or we'll have to just finish the job they're negotiating on fumes.

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SANDOVAL: President Trump's comments, they come as Iranian state media is reporting that Iran fired warning shots at four ships. They reportedly tried to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, forcing them to go around, to eventually turn around, I should say.

So, we're going to CNN's Matthew Chance, who's following the very latest developments on these peace talks.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I don't know, I think, you know, I've just come back from Iran and I spoke to a lot of Iranian officials there and, you know, as they set out in state television the terms of a possible memorandum of understanding, it just seems to me these are the only sort of ways that there's going to be a peace deal like that that's agreed and it's almost like an unwillingness on the part of the White House to accept what a workable peace deal is going to look like.

I mean, for instance, the U.S. will lift its blockade on Iranian ports. Since the 13th of April, they've blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, you know, kind of stopped more than 100 vessels, disabled about four of them.

I mean, obviously, they're going to do that if there's going to be an end to this conflict. Iran will restore the flow of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month. I mean, these are the terms of the memorandum of understanding that were sort of broadcast on Iranian state television earlier today.

I mean, of course, Iran is going to do that. There are some other issues as well. Iran and Oman will manage traffic through that strait.

On that last point, actually, President Trump took particular exception to, and not only did the White House call that whole sort of broadcast on Iranian state television complete fabrication, but that issue of Oman being involved in the management of the strait utterly rejected by President Trump.

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SANDOVAL: Matthew Chance, thank you so much for that.

Israel stepping up strikes on targets just outside of its self- declared security zone in Lebanon. The Israeli military said just hours ago that it had Hezbollah infrastructure in the city of Tyre. Earlier, Israel issued what appears to be its largest evacuation warning for the city on the Mediterranean coast.

Lebanon's state news agency is also reporting a deadly missile strike in Sidon, which is the country's third largest city. Now the IDF has been ramping up operations in southern Lebanon in recent days, including more than 150 strikes on Hezbollah targets since Tuesday.

And a new report suggests that Ukraine has gained the upper hand in the fight against Russia, at least for now. Now it finds that the war is far from a stalemate, even though neither side is actually capable of making a decisive strategic move.

And the map that we want to show you here, it actually shows you the current situation. In yellow, territory regained by Ukraine, while in red, that's Russian-claimed territory.

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The report by the Institute for the Study of War says that Russia's rate of advance is plummeting at the moment. It's losing more soldiers to make fewer gains.

And that Ukraine is currently starting to regain more ground than it's losing for the first time in three years. So why is this happening? The report citing technological innovation and Ukraine's ability to carry out intermediate-range strikes.

We also want to show you some of the Ukrainian drone technology that's there on the ground. But there's also a warning that Russia could eventually develop countermeasures. So for now, the analysis is finding that Ukraine's international allies have a rare and temporary chance to help Ukraine while it does have this advantage.

I want to go now to some optimism in Laos, where rescuers say that they're hopeful that in the coming hours, they could potentially begin bringing out those five men that are trapped in a flooded cave. The group was found alive on Wednesday after spending a week underground. Look at these images.

Two others are still missing. Rescue teams, they are now preparing for the very difficult process of rescuing those five.

Let's go to CNN's Mike Valero, who's following those developments live from Beijing. Mike, that's just incredible video. I wonder if you could show us more of that footage that takes our viewers around the world underground, showing just how difficult this extraction mission is likely going to be.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not only will we show you more of that video, we're going to show you a new video that came in within the past hour.

Let's roll it, control room. The last four digits is 4161. This is from the Facebook of acting sub-lieutenant Norrassed Palasing. He's one of the Thai cave divers who goes into this cave entrance, then goes underwater, and then meets the five survivors of this cave disaster.

You can see as he's starting this video that he posted on Facebook, joy on his face that he's coming to see them again. This is actually his second or third time that he's gone to that ledge about 200 meters inside the cave system.

And we're translating what this conversation is right now. It is remarkable. He's just asking the five men how they're doing, what exactly happened as soon as those rains came pouring down more than a week ago when these five individuals were looking for gold in the middle of Xaisaomboun province in Laos.

We should also note that there are seven total. The other two people haven't been found. We have new details thanks to our (inaudible), producer who's based out of Bangkok, who's working this story, for hours on end.

Her reporting is that the two other people have not been found yet, Polo. They went into the cave system before these five gentlemen you're seeing on the screen.

The five gentlemen don't know those other two individuals who haven't been found so far. That's some new details in the reporting about who exactly, hopefully, could be coming out today. To that end, this is certainly going to be easier said than done because what the rescue teams want to do, they're going to try to bring a water pump much closer to the entrance to this cave.

The base camp is two to three kilometers away from the entrance because when you think about it, moving the trucks, all the equipment, the lights, the internet connectivity, the generators, they can only get so close to this dense forest and the cave opening.

They want to bring a generator closer so they can pump more and more water out quicker. It's still raining and why that's crucial, why a pump makes all the difference, is because these men are so weak, of course, they want to try to be able to have them move out of there through their own power rather than diving through these sections that are still submerged -- many sections which are still submerged.

The final point we want to add that we're getting some more reporting on, there's also hydrogen sulfide pockets that are inside this cave system and from high school or university chemistry, you might remember that hydrogen sulfide, it's a toxic chemical and if you breathe in enough of it, it essentially shuts down your respiratory system. This is a compound that forms and bonds when not enough oxygen gets into these underground spaces.

So they're going to need oxygen tanks through this route to get them out of there. But again, the big headline is not only do we have this incredible video, but the rescue teams are hoping to start getting them out today.

So watch this space. Of course, we are on top of every element of this story, Polo.

SANDOVAL: And as if conditions weren't unforgiving enough, just add the hydrogen sulfide pockets on top of that. And also a reminder, if those headlamps, if those flashlights go out, they would be in complete darkness.

Mike, do keep us posted as we wait for good news as they work to get these folks out of there. Thank you. Mike Valerio in Beijing.

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MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States.

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SANDOVAL: That's U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a cabinet meeting. You see him sitting next to the President on Wednesday.

As an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to grow, the Trump administration says that it is focused on keeping the disease out of the United States. The administration is making plans to send Americans who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus but do not have symptoms to health facilities in Kenya. Officials say that the state-of-the-art facility, as they described it, is designated for Americans who would need to quickly get out of the DRC and quarantine without the risks of a lengthy transport back to U.S. soil.

Now the U.S. has its own specialized network of hospitals that are highly equipped to treat people with Ebola that some experts say would be much better suited to handle the situation. Critics are warning that the plan could be unethical and illegal. It is also unclear whether the facility in Kenya will accept people from other countries, making some residents wary of the U.S. plan.

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UNKNOWN: I kind of feel like that's a little bit off and not a bit fair for the host, like us being the host. Why would you create a facility in my country and it doesn't serve me? Yet the same facility is going to host people who are endangering my own life.

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SANDOVAL: And still on the way, unrest in Bolivia as protesters and police clash after weeks of demonstrations and roadblocks, we'll have the latest on the government's response and also the key issues that are fueling this tension that's been going on for weeks now.

Plus, deported from the U.S. with no place to call home, a new report says thousands of Cuban migrants are stuck in an indefinite limbo in Mexico.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

The Bolivian government is clearing the way for the President to respond to weeks of protests and unrest that are gripping that country. Anti-government demonstrations, they have escalated at times into clashes with police firing tear gas. Protests and roadblocks, they have led to shortages of food, fuel and medicine in Bolivia's largest urban areas, including the capital. Protesters are demanding the conservative government roll back austerity measures and address rising living costs, among other issues.

The President is reportedly considering declaring a state of emergency and sending in some troops after signing off on a vote from Congress that would effectively repeal limits to the use of emergency orders.

So what's next? Let's discuss all this and bring in Christopher Sabatini, he's director of the Latin America program at Chatham House. Christopher, thank you so much for joining us.

CHRISTOPHER SABATINI, DIRECTOR, LATIN AMERICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Let's get started by perhaps you could tell our viewers how quickly the situation unraveled in Bolivia. I mean, just a few months ago, you had many Bolivians that were essentially looking forward to their new leader and hoping that he would pull them out of economic uncertainty. And then fast forward to now and you have them effectively calling not just for Rodrigo Paz to step down, but they're setting up these roadblocks.

SABATINI: Yes. So just a year ago, there were elections in Bolivia as first round elections. Evo Morales, who was the founder of the movement towards socialism and have been President since 2006 to 2019, lost. And the two candidates who passed in the second round were conservative candidates, actually.

So people were saying this was the end of the socialist era of Bolivia and a new era of politics, more conservative politics was coming. That was not to be the case.

First of all, after more than almost two decades of the MAS, the Movement Towards Socialism's rule, first by Evo Morales and later Luis Odisei, they left the economy in shambles.

They overspent. The country was in deficit of basically the failure to reinvest profits in the gas industry had left the country, even having to import fuel. There was massive inflation, the central bank was effectively bankrupt.

So Rodrigo Paz, when he came to office in November last year, had instituted a series of austerity measures, as you mentioned. That included also investment conditions for international agribusinesses to come in and consolidate land holdings.

This triggered a whole series of protests, especially the end of fuel subsidies, which is the third rail in many Latin American countries. But what happened was Evo Morales, who only received 8 percent of the vote in the first round of elections last year, what he does is he controls the street. So there were these legitimate street protests that occurred over

austerity measures and real genuine economic suffering from people who basically were sort of increased and sort of ramped up by Evo Morales, who is in hiding right now in a private location somewhere in the Bolivian jungle.

So what you're seeing is a combination of difficult measures that had to be taken, but then also an effort by the former President to really kind of throw fuel on the fire on the streets and block off what traditionally has been his political tactic is block off streets to cripple the economy. And that's what we're seeing right now.

SANDOVAL: And the result, of course, for Bolivians is these clashes on the streets and some of these roads closed off by some of these groups. We just discussed a little while ago, Christopher, also what President Paz is considering now and essentially sending in security forces.

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I mean, with tensions high, are there concerns there that this could potentially worsen the situation?

SABATINI: Well, first of all, this decision, Polo, is in part a result of the fracture of his own cabinet. His own cabinet is now beginning to criticize him in a fracturing of the right.

The challenger in the second round elections, Chucho Quiroga, has broken with Rodrigo Paz. So there's even a division now within the right who want to see a more forceful response.

But these concerns are legitimate, and it will probably require some of the rolling back of these austerity measures to basically meet some of these demands. But these demands are not purely economic. And as you're saying, you know, the sealing off of these streets is a traditional tactic that's being conducting right now, but that also inflicts more economic pain on people.

Right now in La Paz, there are shortages of fuel, food, and medicine precisely because these largely union groups that have been mobilized by Evo Morales are sealing off the city.

SANDOVAL: Yes. And nonetheless, though, President Paz does have some support among leaders in other Latin American countries and then also the U.S. I wonder if we could just finally just explore that side of this. What interest does the U.S. have in what's happening in Bolivia right now?

I mean, Paz is not only an ally of President Trump, but as you know, Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently not only affirmed support for the current government, for the Paz government, but even referred to some of these protesters as criminals.

SABATINI: Yes. And first of all, I mean, that's the idea of the criminal sentiment is what drives the response that you were asking about earlier, is if there's a crackdown, does this really risk violations of human rights or political and civil rights?

And that's probably true. It's going to take force to unleash, to basically remove some of these protesters. They're not there simply as peaceful protesters.

I'm not justifying that, but it's going to be a difficult decision now on the U.S.

First of all, Bolivia has massive lithium deposits. And during the previous governments, those were basically given sole contract rights, monopoly rights to the Chinese. So first of all, the Trump administration has its eyes on critical minerals and supply chain risks to the U.S. and other consumers vis-a-vis China.

Now, ideologically, what we're also seeing is Trump is trying to create a much more conservative wave within Latin America, in some ways even more partisan. He supported a Presidential candidate in Honduras who won, Tito Asfura.

He supported the conservative President of Ecuador, of Argentina. He's supporting the conservative President now of Chile. This is part of what he'd hoped would be sort of a sort of Trumpist-like aligned coalition within the hemisphere.

These are legitimate democracy concerns that Marco Rubio is raising and a lot of these other conservative governments are raising for a number of reasons.

First of all, it would be a violation of the Constitution if Rodrigo Paz were to have to cut his term short because of street protests. But the other thing is the same thing could happen to them. If these movements in Bolivia are successful in unseating this government in an unconstitutional change of power, the truth is this will add, no pun intended, fuel to the fire for other peasant movements and other local street-based movements to try to protest against other conservative movements, other conservative governments, when economic time has become difficult.

SANDOVAL: That's noteworthy that Colombia's Gustavo Petro is speaking out in support of some of these protesters. So there's so much at play.

Christopher Sabatini, thank you so much for joining us because there's just so much happening behind the scenes as we wait to see what will happen next from the Bolivian President. Thank you for your time and your analysis.

SABATINI: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: The legal troubles, they are far from over for Cuban migrants that were recently deported from the U.S. to Mexico. A report from Human Rights Watch now shows that more than 4000 of them have been sent across the border in all this part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

But now they're basically in limbo because they can't easily get a legal status in Mexico and some say that they can't go back to Cuba either because they've been in the U.S. for so long. Not to mention, of course, that crisis that's unfolding right now in Cuba.

The report also says that Cuban migrants are struggling to find medical care and some also quite fearful of violent crime in Mexico. The U.S. and Cuba, they do not have deportation agreements, which for them, that means they essentially remain in this indefinite state of limbo.

Bangladesh battling a deadly measles outbreak. Just ahead, we'll check in with the International Rescue Committee to see what's being done to try to slow the spread.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York and let's take a look at today's top stories.

The United States launching new attacks against Iran, that's according to a U.S. official who says the U.S. forces struck a military site near the Strait of Hormuz. The official says that the strikes were purely defensive and aimed at maintaining the ceasefire. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps saying that it has already retaliated by targeting an American air base.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is asking the U.S. for some help with its air defenses, he says that Russia is threatening new ballistic missile strikes, calling them Moscow's last major advantage on the battlefield.

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And that comes as a new report now suggests that Ukraine has, for now, gained the upper hand in its fight against Russia.

Officials say that the U.S. planned to send Americans who've been exposed to the Ebola outbreak in Africa but do not have symptoms to health facilities in Kenya, that's their plan. Critics are warning that the plan could be unethical and illegal. The Kenyan Health Ministry says that there are ongoing discussions with U.S. government and other global partners on tackling the Ebola virus.

Now to Bangladesh, which is battling a widespread measles outbreak that authorities say has already killed at least 200 people.

The International Rescue Committee has already launched a vaccination campaign targeting Rohingya refugee camps. Nearly a million people live in those camps and the IRC says that children are perhaps most at risk. As of the end of April, nearly 35,000 cases have been reported in 58 of the country's 64 districts.

To get more of a sense of the scale of this outbreak, let's go now to Elinor Raikes, the Vice President for Program Delivery at the International Rescue Committee. Elinor, thank you so much for joining us.

You were in the Bangladeshi city of Cox's Bazar recently, Elinor. Just I wonder if you could just give us a sense of what's happening there. Obviously, that's where many of the measles cases have already been confirmed, especially within refugee communities, which are the most vulnerable.

In your view, what seems to be fueling this, especially for children?

ELINOR RAIKES, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE VICE PRESIDENT FOR PROGRAM DELIVERY: Yes, I was in the camps just over a month ago. And I mean, it's the camps for, you know, to start with, there are multiple camps over quite a large area. They are very crowded, as you say, a million refugees living there, most of them fought for the last eight years.

And there have been over those years, an infrastructure set up from organizations like the International Rescue Committee, the U.N. agencies and other non-governmental organizations to set up health services, water and sanitation services, other community level services.

But those services have come under strain. Even when I was there a month ago, I visited one of the health centers that the IRC manages. It was well run, but extremely busy.

And the health workers that I spoke to, our staff, were already telling me that they were worried about the risk of this kind of disease outbreak happening and spreading across the camps as health service points have been closed across the camps due to funding reductions.

And what we found over and over again, not just in Bangladesh -- in the camps in Bangladesh, but elsewhere around the world, that without sustained investment in primary health care services, in routine vaccination campaigns and in community health workers, what you find is the risk of public health outbreaks like the measles outbreak in Bangladesh.

Of course, the Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC is another example of this. The risks of those public health disease outbreaks dramatically increase. So unfortunately, I was there seven weeks ago and this really felt like the writing was on the wall already.

SANDOVAL: You're basically describing this sort of snowballing effect of multiple factors. There's the displacement, the crowded conditions, the vulnerable refugee communities, lack of funding, as you described. Let's touch now on the vaccination efforts.

UNICEF is urging parents to get their children vaccinated against measles in the face of this outbreak. But ultimately, in Bangladesh, that's very difficult for many parents. I wonder if you can expand on that. RAIKES: It is, I mean, it's one of the challenging things where we

know there is very strong evidence to show that routine immunization campaigns, routine vaccinations, especially, as you say, in very congested, highly densely populated camps are critical. So much more, less costly, less dangerous to a child's health than attempting to manage the disease outbreak once it's happened.

So a month ago, we launched an emergency measles, rubella vaccination campaign with the government of Bangladesh. So far, we've vaccinated 20,000 children across the camps. And that effort continues.

What you need, really, as I said, is sustained investment in the public health -- primary health care, in particular, infrastructure and routine immunization campaigns. So then you reach enough coverage to protect the population from disease transmission. That's obviously what we're seeing right now is a direct result of that not happening.

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The emergency vaccination campaign will help significantly and, as I say, will hopefully prevent the disease spreading out of control in incredibly densely populated camp areas.

SANDOVAL: I know we do have to leave it there, but I do know that you have concerns about this spreading beyond Bangladesh as well. Just highlighting multiple concerns that you and the rest of the folks with your organization have.

Thank you so much for your time, and let's stay in touch as this outbreak continues on our breaks. Thank you.

RAIKES: Thanks for having me.

SANDOVAL: And we'll be right back with more.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back, let's get to your business headlines now.

The Australian government says that it's suing the U.S. Company 3M for more than $1.4 billion. It's claiming that the company's firefighting foam contains forever chemicals, that's despite assurances that it was safe to dispose of, biodegradable and non-toxic. 3M says that it would defend itself against these claims in court.

A record high for South Korea's KOSPI, the benchmark stock index was lifted to new heights by chipmaker S.K. Hynix, exceeding $1 trillion in market value, you see it there. This was the first time that it reached that milestone, with shares shooting up as much as 15 percent. S.K. Hynix is one of just three Asian companies to secure a spot in the $1 trillion club, an exclusive one of them.

Italy's Supreme Court has finally settled an illegal water war. A guest sued a five star hotel after its staff refused to serve tap water and would only serve bottled water during her stay back in 2019 at about eight bucks a bottle, by the way. Well, the guest argued that the access to water was a fundamental rights, the top court disagreed.

The U.S. Department of Justice dropping a high profile bribery case involving FIFA. Now the federal judge dismissed the charges after the DOJ said that the case is not a priority for the Trump administration and that it doesn't want to put resources toward the prosecution.

Hernan Lopez, a former 21st Century Fox executive, and an Argentine sports marketing company, they were accused of bribing soccer officials to win media and broadcast rights. Lopez said that he is relieved that a quote, "case they never should have started is over."

The decision comes exactly 11 years after the Justice Department launched a corruption case against FIFA figures, which caused a reckoning in football's governing body and the resignation of top officials. And all this comes nearly six months after FIFA presented President Trump with its own so-called peace prize.

Coordinate, keep that in mind. Thank you so much for watching this hour, "World Sport" is next. Then I'll be right back with you at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom."

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