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Trump Wraps Meeting on Iran Deal with No Decision; Iran Is Quickly Unearthing Its Huge Missile Arsenal; Rescuers Gear Up to Resume Mission to Save Trapped Men; Kenyan Court Orders Halt to Plan for U.S. Ebola Facility; Inaugural Hong Kong Comic Con Draws Massive Crowds. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired May 30, 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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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello. Wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN NEWSROOM with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me.
Coming up on the show, a dangerous rescue attempt in Laos; the lives of four trapped men depend on the divers' success.
The U.S. president ends a Situation Room meeting with no decision on Iran.
And a warning of a major attack on Ukraine by Russia. Ukraine's president is reminding the world of his country's need for defensive missiles.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Ben Hunte.
HUNTE: Welcome.
U.S. President Donald Trump left a key meeting in the Situation Room without announcing a final decision on Iran. He gathered his top advisors on Friday to discuss an emerging deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin nuclear talks.
But now it's not very clear where the president actually stands. CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid weighs in on the president's thought process. Have a listen.
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BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: If there's one thing that President Trump has been thinking about -- or as in he has been told in the last few days, according to U.S. officials -- is that even though a deal will not be perfect, the alternative -- that's at least what the president's been told. The alternative is another 6-12 months of the Strait of Hormuz being
closed, with all the implications for the global economy and for the U.S. economy. And I think this is one of the main things that the president was and is thinking about when he's making the decision.
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HUNTE: Iran's foreign ministry says no agreement has been finalized yet and Russian state media is reporting that a top Iranian official has warned that Tehran does not intend to transfer its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Well, speaking about that, while we are waiting for a deal to be reached, Iran is quickly digging out its vast missile stockpiles that were buried by U.S. and Israeli strikes. That is according to a CNN analysis of new satellite images, which cast doubt on president Trump's claims of nearly completely wiping out Iran's military capabilities.
CNN's Tamara Qiblawi reports.
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TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL MIDDLE EAST PRODUCER (voice-over): These are recent satellite images of Iran's missile bases taken after the start of the ceasefire with the U.S. and Israel. Dump trucks and excavators digging through piles of rubble along the mountainside but it's what lies beneath the surface that makes this significant.
A vast stockpile of missiles trapped by U.S. bombs and likely intact according to weapons experts, with satellite images showing Iran quickly regaining access to them, casting doubt on U.S. president Donald Trump's claims of having all but vanquished Iran's formidable rocket arsenal.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces. Very few of them left.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): CNN previously identified a pattern of U.S.- Israeli strikes to put Iran's missile complexes out of commission, not by destroying them but by blocking the tunnel entrances leading in and out of them, leaving the rockets trapped inside and severely hampering Iran's ability to wreak havoc on U.S. allies in the region.
But that was only a temporary solution. Iran is already undoing the effects of that strategy. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has acknowledged that Iran has been repairing the damage.
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: You are digging out your remaining launchers and missiles with no ability to replace them. You have no defense industry. QIBLAWI (voice-over): But the recovery is widespread and it is happening quickly. CNN looked at 69 tunnels across 18 underground missile bases. At least 50 of those access points appeared to have been cleared and many others are being repaired.
Take this base in Western Iran. Just weeks ago, U.S.-Israeli fighter jets destroyed all four entrances to the underground complex but now two of them appear wide open.
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The roads needed to wheel out its trapped rocket launchers repaved. And Iran is already in the process of clearing the remaining two. It's also repaired some of the more than a dozen craters left behind by U.S.- Israeli munitions.
The craters indicate that a large amount of firepower was used to destroy just two tunnel entrances. And all Iran needs to reopen them?
Dump trucks and bulldozers. As Iran rallies around the missiles that survived the war, weapons experts say it will continue to come up with new ways to protect its arsenal from any renewed U.S.-Israeli bombing -- Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.
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HUNTE: Well, in response to a request for comment, the Pentagon referred CNN to a previous statement.
It said, "America's military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the president's choosing. We have executed multiple successful operations across combatant commands while ensuring the U.S. military possesses a deep arsenal of capabilities to protect our people and our interests."
It is Saturday afternoon in Laos, where rescuers are preparing to save four men known to still be trapped inside a deep cave system. A multinational crew of cave diving specialists are now gearing up for their daring and very complex mission.
The emergency team rescued the first survivor on Friday night but four other men are still trapped in a cramped, pitch-black cave, where they have been for more than 10 days now. Meanwhile, the rescue team has not had any contact with two other missing cave explorers.
One of the divers says they are encouraged by the success of Friday's rescue but they cautioned that everyone is at the mercy of the elements and possible rain in the forecast would be a disaster. CNN's Will Ripley is on the scene for us.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After 10 days trapped underground, the first survivor is pulled from a flooded cave in Central Laos.
"I'm all right. I'm still strong, he says."
An ambulance rushes him away but tonight, the rescue is on hold. Another agonizing night for the four known survivors, the fate of two still missing unknown. Rescue divers are exhausted. Getting one man out took days of preparation and backbreaking work.
What was that moment like when you guys got the first villager out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. It was I don't know how to describe. It was full of action. It was full of emotion, full of everything.
RIPLEY: The route to safety winds through 850 feet of narrow jagged tunnels, some flooded with ice-cold, pitch-black water.
NORRASED BENZ PALASING, RESCUE DIVER: We have to climb out. We just we cannot do like that. We do, like, just a little bit just a little bit. They're like account 200 meter. We spend 50 minute.
RIPLEY: 50?
PALASING: 50, 5-0.
RIPLEY: Wow.
PALASING: 50 minute to call in. So that was very small. And then some water trap around. We have to, like, clean in water. We have to, like, submerge the water sometimes.
RIPLEY: The most dangerous section is a flooded passage roughly 100 feet long. Divers describe near zero visibility, sharp rocks and no room for mistakes. Rescuers spent days pumping water out of the cave, installing guide ropes, securing an evacuation route.
The cave entrance plunges underground at a 45-degree angle. Food, water and medicine have finally reached the men.
But days spent in the dark are taking a toll. Doctors are now reporting health problems among those still trapped, skin infections, digestive issues and growing exhaustion. Those still inside the cave struggling to breathe rancid air wonder if they're running out of time.
"If we're still here after another two days, we'll be dead," he says.
"I'm completely exhausted. If I don't get out of here, I'm going to die."
RIPLEY: The cave sits in one of the most remote regions in Southeast Asia. Satellite images show a makeshift access road bulldozed through the dense jungle in a matter of days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And directly below us is where this cave rescue is unfolding as we speak.
RIPLEY: The drive from the Laos capital takes between eight and 10 hours. CNN reached the site by helicopter, then four-wheel drive, then on foot. We found families anxiously waiting.
SAMORN IAN, CAVER'S WIFE: (Speaking foreign language).
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RIPLEY (voice-over): Families are celebrating the first rescue, wondering if the others will make it out alive.
RIPLEY: Rescue divers who've flown in from all over the world have been meeting for the last couple of hours here.
And in fact, all of them are getting ready to get into that white pickup truck and that green bus, which will take him to the entrance of the cave where they have had other rescue officials from Thailand and Laos camping out overnight.
Operating generators to pump out as much water as possible before they begin this extremely difficult and dangerous operation to try to get the remaining four villagers out.
But one of the divers said, frankly, it's a miracle that the first made it out alive and he was the youngest and the strongest in the group. And there were very serious concerns about whether the other four will be able to make it -- Will Ripley, CNN, Central Laos.
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HUNTE: In our last hour, I spoke with Anmar Mirza. He is a former national coordinator for the U.S. National Cave Rescue Commission. He described the challenges of this very complex and very dangerous operation.
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ANMAR MIRZA, FORMER NATIONAL COORDINATOR, U.S. NATIONAL CAVE RESCUE COMMISSION: The fact that it has been done gives them some opportunity to have learned and hopefully modify and improve any techniques that they might be using for the rest of them.
Of course, as we noted, the strongest and healthiest of the survivors or the -- was the person that they took out first. And so that will increase the challenge for the people that they're bringing out next.
However, we're hopeful that the fact that they have had an opportunity to get more rest and recovery from the starvation they suffered and potentially in medicines that have been given may help them regain some strength.
And so that, hopefully, plus the modification of the cave and pumping more of the water down will make it a little bit easier. But it's still going to be incredibly dangerous.
HUNTE: It definitely looks, seeing these images while you're talking there, it's absolutely wild. Weather does remain one of the biggest concerns as well.
What specific conditions could change the rescue plan or make conditions inside the cave more dangerous?
MIRZA: Well, obviously the weather is the biggest concern there. But the problem we face now is that they can still only take them out one at a time, because they -- if somebody does panic or there's a problem, it will block the exit route. And so they need to make sure that that route is clear before they bring the next person out.
And it's not going to be a fast process for each person. So it is going to be a slow process from here on forth. And we're fighting the weather. And hopefully we maintain the good weather we've had so far and continue to be able to lower the water levels.
HUNTE: As well as that, we know the rescuers are dealing with very narrow, flooded passages and some really unstable sections of the cave.
What are the biggest hazards that they still face during this next phase of the operation?
MIRZA: Really, the biggest problem is the psychology of the people that they are rescuing. If somebody panics while they are in one of the flooded sections, that's not only putting that person but also the rescuer at risk.
And if the -- that happens in one of those sections and it does block that passage, that also can make it very difficult to move in or out to rescue those people. And so that can bring the entire operation to a halt, as well as placing everybody at risk.
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HUNTE: A one-two punch for president Trump's anti weaponization fund, courtesy of a pair of federal judges. A federal judge in Virginia has temporarily blocked any action related to the $1.8 billion fund. It was created to compensate people that the administration says were wrongly targeted by the government.
A hearing is scheduled for June 12th. That very same day, a federal judge in Florida is set to hear a related case after taking the extraordinary step of reopening the president's original lawsuit against the IRS, which he had closed last week to examine allegations of fraud.
And another federal judge has ruled that president Trump's name must be removed from the Kennedy Center within two weeks. The ruling ordered the center's website to remove all mentions of the name Trump Kennedy Center. The judge also blocked plans to close the venue for a long renovation.
Shortly after that ruling, Trump appeared to back down from his fight to revamp the arts center. On social media he said he is transferring control of the Kennedy Center from the executive branch to Congress. The Kennedy Center board has indicated it does plan to appeal that ruling.
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HUNTE: Ukraine's president says his country could soon be in the crosshairs of another major Russian attack. He spoke just days after one of the largest strikes on the Kyiv region since the war began. Moscow later said it plans more systematic strikes on the capital and urged foreigners and diplomats to leave.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says intelligence data indicates more strikes are in the making. And he emphasized Ukraine's need for more air defenses.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The issue of air defense and the need to continue helping Ukraine protect its skies is our key priority.
I'm grateful to every partner, to all the leaders and to all of the nations that are ready to help and that are fully fulfilling their commitments. The prioritized Ukraine requirements list program should work. This applies to both the United States and Europe.
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HUNTE: A Trump administration plan to build a quarantine facility in Kenya for Americans, who may have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus, is facing criticism and backlash. We'll have a report from Kenya. See you in a moment.
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HUNTE: Welcome back.
Kenya's high court has temporarily suspended U.S. plans to establish a quarantine and treatment facility in Kenya. It would have been for Americans who may have been exposed to Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kenyan doctors and officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have criticized that plan. CNN's Larry Madowo has more for us from Kenya.
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LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why do Americans think that their lives are more important than the lives of Kenyans?
That appears to be the national mood here, the overall sentiment across the country. There's near universal opposition to this U.S. plan to set up an Ebola quarantine
facility or isolation ward in the country for Americans. And now, a judge has agreed that it might endanger public health, at least temporarily.
A Kenyan high court judge ruling that the Kenyan government cannot get into this agreement with the U.S. It cannot admit transfer or in any way allow
anybody exposed to Ebola or with confirmed Ebola to come into the country until this plays out in the court. That's until June 2nd, when the Katiba
Institute -- this is the civil society group that filed the suit, will have their moment before this judge to explain why they're opposed to it.
But they're not the only ones. The Law Society of Kenya has also filed a constitutional petition to essentially block the Kenyan government from
doing this, because, again, the same argument is that if Ebola is too dangerous for Americans, it is too dangerous for Kenyans. The Kenya medical
practitioners and dentists union, that is the union representing 10,000- plus doctors in public and private hospitals are opposed to it.
They say that Kenya is a sovereign nation. It is not a geopolitical isolation ward and that they will not allow the Kenyan government to give a
public safety for foreign aid. That reference is because the U.S. has said it is committing $13.5 million to Kenya for Ebola preparedness efforts.
Many Kenyans are offended by repeated statements from U.S. secretary of State Marco Rubio. He said that the U.S. priority is to protect U.S.
citizens and that they will do everything to ensure that Ebola does not get to the U.S. The corollary here that the way people see it here in Kenya is
that they're saying, oh, you can have Ebola over there in Kenya but it cannot come to the U.S. even if they're American citizens. And that is why
there's this universal opposition to it.
Local leaders in central Kenya, where reports say this 50-bed facility should have opened on Friday, are opposed to it. But the Kenyan government
has not been fully transparent in terms of what deal they got into with the Americans. So far, there's been no response from the Kenyan government and
that is fueling a lot of speculation as to why President William Ruto government got into this deal in the first place and some Kenyans say it
appears to be for the money and they say return the money to the Americans and keep it safe, because they feel that the Kenyan health system, the
health care infrastructure here, is just not ready for an infectious virus like Ebola.
Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
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HUNTE: Iran says it's still waiting for clarity from FIFA about visas ahead of the World Cup. The country relocated its teams training camp from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico. That was at FIFA's suggestion at the outset of the U.S. war with Iran.
Due to the move, Iran requires multiple entry visas for both the United States and Mexico in order to participate in the tournament. Iranian officials say they are still waiting on those visas. And it's just a week before they plan to fly out
Novak Djokovic's quest for a record 25th grand slam title is over at the French Open. The world number four cruised to take the first two sets until 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca staged a stunning comeback. He closed out the next three sets to win the nearly five- hour thriller.
The Serbian superstar said Fonseca played an unbelievable match, while the teen said it was a pleasure to play against Djokovic, calling him an idol.
Fans of comics and anime are gathering in Hong Kong this weekend. They are celebrating the city's first-ever Comic Con. CNN's senior international correspondent and self-proclaimed nerd Ivan Watson is there and takes us along for this ride.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my goodness, it's Colonel Sanders with big muscles and fried chicken, just an example of the random stuff that I'm seeing at Hong Kong's first Comic Con and the crowd here is in form and it's fun. Where else do you get to see Rick with his portal?
And I don't even know what that machine is?
And over here you got Brute wandering around, waving at people and statues of Spider Man showing his hind quarters.
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This is a venue where people get to nerd out and celebrate nerd culture and I love it. I confess that I'm a bit of a kid in a candy store right now, because I grew up reading Marvel Comics, superhero comics.
And I wouldn't let anybody at middle school see my issues of Uncanny X-Men, because I was a little bit ashamed of it. But here, this kind of culture is being celebrated. It has gone fully mainstream.
The whole point at these things is to be a fan, to dress up, to have people take photos of you and to take hook (ph) photos.
Hey, Freddy, how is it going, man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonderful.
WATSON: How is your first Comic Con in Hong Kong?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes.
WATSON: Digging it. All right.
And that is my report, as I geek out at Hong Kong's first Comic Con -- Ivan Watson, CNN, in Hong Kong.
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HUNTE: Paul McCartney released his first new album in more than five years just now. "The Boys of Dungeon Lane" dropped on Friday. The title references a street in Liverpool, where McCartney and his future Beatles bandmates spent their early years.
The 83-year old recorded the project in Los Angeles and Sussex, U.K., between legs of a global tour. The album includes his first recorded duet with former bandmate Ringo Starr, a song called "Home to Us."
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PAUL MCCARTNEY, MUSIC LEGEND: A lot of it's kind of looking back, memories -- about half of it's memories and songs about things I remember or -- and then the other half isn't. It's about other stuff.
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HUNTE: All right. That's all I've got for you. Thank you so much for joining me and the team here. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. "INSIDE AFRICA" is next. And then I'll be back with you at the same time tomorrow. I'll see you then.
