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Rescuers Race to Reach Seven Villagers Trapped in Laos Cave; Trump Urges Regional Leaders to Sign Abraham Accords; U.S. Conducts "Self-Defense" Strikes, Iran Threatens U.S. Bases. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 26, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN This Morning. It's half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now.

President Trump will have his annual medical exam this morning at Walter Reed Medical Center. This is Trump's third medical exam of his second term. He's going to turn 80 in just a few weeks. The president's health has come under increased scrutiny after bruising on his hands and swelling in his lower legs.

And Secretary of State Marco Rubio wraps up a high-stakes diplomatic tour in India today. Now, the secretary visited India to ease strained relations after Trump imposed steep tariffs on Indian exports. Rubio held critical face-to-face talks on trade, defense, and energy security.

And they are partying like it's 1999 in New York as the Knicks return to the NBA finals for the first time in 27 years. Monday night, they finished off their four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavs with a 37- point victory. They've now won 11 straight games in the playoffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ANTHONY-TOWNS, NEW YORK KNICKS FORWARD: We'll enjoy this moment tonight, and it's OK. It's OK for New York, the fans, us, our families to enjoy this moment and be jubilant about this. But for us as the players, we understand that the job's not done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: That's because the Knicks now have to wait and see whether they'll play the San Antonio Spurs or Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA finals.

Now, to this developing story out of Laos, where rescuers are racing to save seven people trapped in a flooded cave. These are images from the scene right now in central Laos, and you can see cave divers squeezing through narrow tunnels almost filled with water.

We've got CNN's Mike Valerio, who is covering this from Beijing. Mike, first of all, how did these folks end up underground? What plan is there to get to them?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Audie, they were looking for gold, of all things, underground, because we're told that there are gold deposits in the area, and the plan roughly is to keep pumping out water and to search down there.

And just to give you an idea of what rescuers are dealing with, some of the narrowest passageways are about 23 inches wide. I can't fit through that. 60 centimeters wide as well. But they are in as best hands as they possibly can be. Two of the Thai divers helped rescue the Thai soccer team from back in 2018, if you remember that, and a Finnish expert also worked on that case.

Let's go back to the video just showing you the challenging, harrowing conditions, just the humanity, Audie, of these people who are rescuing. Part of the rescue efforts comes through when they're dealing with these claustrophobic conditions, the sharp, damp edges of the cavern walls.

Just to give you another idea of what they're dealing with, the length of this thing is over 1,000 feet long, which is just about the same height of the Empire State Building at 1,115 feet long. They are thought to have hope, even though tomorrow will mark one week, because they're believed to be inside the cave on an elevated ledge above water, where there is constant airflow, but still an incredibly challenging rescue effort.

We're able to hear in that video the rescuers saying the water's incredibly cold. Some of the rescuers have that water splashing up against their skin. They take a breath, go under, come back up. And one of them says this is the point where we can expect to see seven of them, the seven people who were looking for gold, and they were nowhere to be found.

But the wider global part of this is that thousands of people are watching this rescue on Facebook and on YouTube, other live social platforms.

[06:35:00]

It's really hard, though, Audie, to get information out of Laos. It's a communist, authoritarian, one-party state where information is very tightly controlled. But we're going to stay on it. Again, tomorrow marks one week since these seven went looking for gold underground, Audie.

CORNISH: OK. That's Mike Valerio. Thanks so much. We're going to follow this throughout the day. And in the meantime, I want to turn to the president's demand for Middle Eastern nations to sign the Abraham Accords because it's hitting the wall of diplomatic reality. While Trump claims he mandatorily requested the country's normalized relations with Israel, sources tell CNN he actually raised the issue, quote, "in passing" during a weekend call. And regional leaders met the comment with complete silence.

Now, Saudi Arabia is pushing back, insisting they would not sign onto any deal without an irreversible path to a Palestinian State. So, we're bringing in former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and author of the briefing book on Substack, Joel Rubin, into the chat. And, Joel, you have a new book, which is called "Saving Democratic Foreign Policies."

JOEL RUBIN, AUTHOR, "THE BRIEFING BOOK" SUBSTACK, AUTHOR, "SAVING DEMOCRATIC FOREIGN POLICY", AND FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR OBAMA ADMIN: I do. Yes.

CORNISH: Sure to be a short story.

RUBIN: Yes, right. We're in a great moment right now.

CORNISH: Yes. I mean, as it turns out, all you have to do to normalize relations with Israel in the Middle East is mandatorily requested. Snap your fingers and it's done. But can I ask, I want to be serious about this, because we have not talked enough about the Israel part of the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran and how that plays into the shifting geopolitics of the Middle East. Egypt already has a relationship. Turkey already has some kind of relationship. So, really, his list is kind of down to the Saudis and Qatar. What are the objections there that make this a tough ask?

RUBIN: Well, first of all, related to these countries that have peace with Israel, they did it in a negotiated process with the United States as part of the team negotiating, and they got a benefit at the end. They got a tangible benefit. Egypt, for example, got a couple billion dollars a year in aid that they've been getting ever since '79. Jordan as well, a massive aid program. Morocco got land recognized in Western Sahara.

So, for these countries, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, there's not much we can give them. We have bases there already. They're not going to really need our aid directly. They can buy our weapons. And so, they have --

CORNISH: Bases and infrastructure that maybe they don't feel were protected during these strikes. They got hit.

RUBIN: Right, there is that. That's right. So, I mean, the short of it is, is what do they get out of it? Well, they are asking for what they've been asking for consistently for decades, which is a two-state solution, peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

But really, Audie, this is like a side discussion. This should not be what's on the diplomatic table right now. We're in a diplomatic quagmire of our own making.

CORNISH: Isaac, why do you think it is?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Because we're eight weeks into this war, and we still don't really know what the president's objectives were or what the plan for resolving it is. And I think the complication here is that of the president making this mandatory request is it obviously has been difficult enough over these eight weeks to figure out a deal, even though the president said from the early days that it was done, it was over, to add in, oh, just solving the Israel-Palestinian process, and it's been eluding Americans for 70-plus years, makes it even harder to believe that that deal could happen.

CORNISH: Yes. Here's the review from Lindsey Graham in a tweet saying, President Trump's most recent proposal requiring expansion of the Abraham Accords as part of a negotiated settlement to Iran conflict is simply brilliant and would result in the most significant change in the Middle East in thousands of years. And he goes on to say, I expect our Arab allies to embrace this, as well as our friends in Israel, focusing on this task as failure is not an option, which would be correct analysis.

I want to play for you Netanyahu, who is in the midst of a campaign into Lebanon, and here is how he's thinking about this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): But we are not taking our foot off the gas pedal. On the contrary, I said we need to push the gas pedal even harder. We will strike them. But what this now requires from us is to intensify the blows to increase the force. We will strike them decisively.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Iran wants to have this conversation about Israel and Lebanon as part of their talks. Now, Trump is talking about the Abraham Accords. I mean, there's a lot of complications here.

RUBIN: It's loaded up. It's way beyond any real rational diplomatic program. Right now, we don't even have a framework agreement with Iran on how to deal with our direct issues with Iran. So, for Israel, clearly, look, they would benefit from the Abraham Accords. They would benefit from regime change in Iran. But the real issue is the United States and Iran in our war right now, and how are we going to pull back and get the Iranians to pull back on the Strait of Hormuz and get to some agreement on their nuclear program. Everything else is a sideshow.

[06:40:00]

BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND CO- FOUNDER ONMESSAGE INC.: I disagree with that. I think that a key part of this is Iran has to be unable to threaten Israel through its proxy network with Hezbollah and Hamas, and unable to threaten its other neighbors like Bahrain and Qatar and Saudi Arabia. That's why 10-7 happened. That's why the Hamas attack on Israel happened, is because Saudi Arabia was considering joining the Abraham Accords and considering at least some form of recognition of Israel. That's Iran's doing. Iran pushed the envelope in Israel because of it. So --

CORNISH: Yes, this is the thesis, that Hamas saw that and then did this action.

TODD: So, you cannot untangle the issue that Iran threatened Saudi Arabia --

CORNISH: I don't think we're saying that. We're like, that's a lot on the plate, and those plates are spinning.

TODD: Of course it is. Of course it is.

RUBIN: And that's part of it. And now, you add the Abraham Accords to it as another issue. You're now distracting from that negotiation. That, President Trump should get credit for. He brokered between Israel and Lebanon here in Washington. Let's see that bear fruit.

CORNISH: OK. I want to bring this to some domestic politics. You'll still be able to bring up some of these points, actually, because the politics of the Middle East and Israel are being felt in the most local races unfolding this primary season.

Today, voters are going to head to the polls in Texas, for example, to decide a Democratic primary between Maureen Galindo and Johnny Garcia. Now, this is a race that has been marred by claims of antisemitism after this post by Galindo. She posted this month that she would, quote, "Turn an ICE detention center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers." Now, Galindo denies that her remarks are antisemitic. According to The New York Times, Democrats claim Galindo is being supported by a new Republican-connected PAC called Lead Left, which has poured nearly half a million dollars into the race this month.

Now, talk of Israel also took center stage in the Kentucky Republican primary between Thomas Massie and Ed Gallrein. Massie eventually lost to his Trump-endorsed opponent, but it was a loss he partially blamed on the influence of pro-Israel lobbyists who dumped money into the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. The group chat is back. I wanted to talk about this, because once you see it surfacing bipartisan, now you have a lot of questions. So, first I want to get your reaction, because in your notes, he sends me notes ahead of time, so I know what we're talking about here.

You've got this thesis that you've got fringe candidates expressing over-the-top version of thoughts that are already percolating wildly. Can you talk -- swear that?

RUBIN: Yes, look, what Galindo is pushing is deeply antisemitic and hateful, and what Massie did right there, he might as well have just said, why didn't I call up my opponent at synagogue and just be very direct about how Jews bought the election against him. This is across the board on both extremes of both parties. The idea that Jews should now be attacked politically to gain power for candidates is becoming mainstream. It's deeply troubling as an American and as an American Jew. I find it to be anti-American and anti-Jewish.

I think that the Republicans last week, they kicked out Massie in that primary. Good. Now, Democrats, we have a test of our own with Galindo. This is a core test. Will she get kicked out and lose, or will she somehow continue to stay in there and allow antisemitic rhetoric to be part of this?

CORNISH: Let me ask my strategist for a moment, because one of the things is after October 7th and after the rhetoric that many Jewish groups were alarmed by, you did see increased spending by political action committees over the issue of Israel. That is just a demonstrable fact of spending. How do you talk about that spending without doing what Galindo or Massie or some of these other folks are talking about?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND PRESIDENT, SOLIDARITY STRATEGIES: I think it's really important to ground this conversation when you're comparing a U.S. congressman to a sex therapist who's not a real candidate. She's a crazy person.

CORNISH: You're talking about Galindo there, who is by profession a sex therapist.

ROCHA: I'm talking about Galindo. As a Democrat consultant, she's a crazy person. I'm running ads right now against her for Sheriff Johnny Garcia, a real hero in San Antonio, because that woman is crazy. And when we're talking about her compared to a U.S. congressman, I just don't think it's apples to apples.

But I give you credit, I give everybody credit that there's a lot of money, pro-Israel, anti-Israel, in all of these primaries, more so than I've ever seen before no matter which side of this thing you are on.

RUBIN: She's not the only person in our party who's flirting with antisemitism.

ROCHA: Oh, for sure. And it's a real concern. And I think as Democrats we need to be different from Republicans. We need to be very clear about there being lines against Jew hatred in our party. I think we've been that historically, and we need to hold that line right now.

CORNISH: How do you deal with the money part of it? So, for instance, when you have organizations, lobby groups, creating shell packs, for example, how does this engender distrust, and how does it feed into this ongoing debate where now you have candidates who are saying as a point of pride, they will not take money from AIPAC. Is this something you're hearing?

DOVERE: Of course, you know, it's something I've reported on, and it is -- there's millions of dollars that are coming in on this. There are some millions of dollars that are with Latino-backed PACs or -- CORNISH: Yes. Also, crypto and A.I.

DOVERE: Or crypto and all of that.

CORNISH: Yes.

[06:45:00]

DOVERE: But the association that happens here over Jewish money and how it connects to all this is very clearly coming across.

And look, even if you pull out the Jewish relation to what Galindo is saying, you have a candidate for Congress who's talking about concentration camps in America, right? Now, that you're talking about Jewish -- yes, like -- yes. But even if it were not about that, a candidate for Congress talking about concentration camps in America is going to get thousands of votes today. At least, maybe she'll win.

That she's talking about them related to Zionists, that concentration camps for Zionists brings us to a different level, it's very clear what's going on.

RUBIN: Only billionaires Zionists.

TODD: The PAC money we're talking about -- by the way, and I've done work with AIPAC before, the PAC money is from regular American citizens, and some are Jewish, some are Christian, who believe in the U.S.-Israel relationship.

CORNISH: I think there's some debate when it comes to PAC money, because we don't always know what is happening with PAC money. But I even brought up Massie earlier, because there was also a Republican- Jewish coalition that spent money there like --

TODD: From individuals.

CORNISH: Yes.

TODD: They collected their money from individual American citizens. I mean --

RUBIN: But why shouldn't they, right? Why shouldn't they oppose candidates who oppose their agenda? And look, I've never been an AIPAC backer. I'll say when I've engaged in politics, I've stayed out of that lane. But I'm very offended as a Jewish American to see AIPAC attacked because they are supporting or opposing a candidate. They are American citizens. The people who support them are American citizens. And you should call out the positions, but don't attack them because they're Jewish.

DOVERE: Massie spent so much money himself. And look, the biggest reason why he lost that primary is because Donald Trump was very clearly against it, right?

TODD: Well, he voted against tax cuts, too. You can't vote -- I did some ads against Thomas Massie. He was against the Second Amendment. He was against tax cuts. He was against the U.S.-Israel relationship.

DOVERE: Right. To locate that entirely about --

CORNISH: Yes. I mean, as a reporter, I'm looking at some very expensive primary races this year, whether it's crypto, whether it's A.I. But this cannot be ignored, because it's also, the agenda is international-related, right? It's not for your sheriff's job.

ROCHA: And the Republicans are trying to get her to be the nominee because they know that she's a crazy person, going back to my fact A, and it's easier to beat her in November.

CORNISH: Which they did learn from Democrats. For a while, Democrats were sort of helping along every quackity candidate.

ROCHA: Libertarian candidate.

CORNISH: Yes, exactly. So, this is a time-honored --

ROCHA: (INAUDIBLE) both sides,

RUBIN: Little dirty tricks there.

CORNISH: A knock into both sides. But I'm saying, it is a time- honored is it backfires. The other thing that's time-honored is it backfires. You sometimes just get stuck with a candidate who is not able to seal the deal.

ROCHA: Remember that commercial, I'm not a witch? That goes back a long way.

CORNISH: This has been a journey, and it's ended on witches. Joel, thank you so much for being here. Always appreciate your insight.

Next on CNN This Morning, President Trump says the U.S. is closer to a deal with Iran, but with agreements over sanctions, the Iran nuclear program, are there doubts about this? We're going to have Congressman Jake Auchincloss joining us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The Straits have to be open. They're going to be open one way or the other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, one way or the other. The White House demanding Iran agree to open the Strait of Hormuz, but will new strikes put negotiations on even rockier ground? The U.S. military carries out self-defense strikes on a southern Iranian port city near the Strait of Hormuz, targeting missile launchers and boats. Central Command said it was to protect our troops. Then, hours later, Iran's Supreme Leader warned the Middle East will no longer, quote, "serve as shields for U.S. bases, writing on Telegram, the U.S. not only will no longer have a safe haven for its mischief and for establishing military bases in the region, but day by day it is growing more distant from its former status.

Joining me now, Democratic Congressman of Massachusetts Jake Auchincloss, thank you so much for being here, and thank you for your service this day after Memorial Day.

I want to ask you about this comment from the Iranians, specifically implying threat to military bases, where our soldiers are. Can you talk about what that says about what they believe their position is?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA), COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND COMMERCE: They believe they're stronger now than they were before this war began, and the comments from our secretary of state, from our president, continue to reveal that America has just lost the plot here. If American violence was an effective way to get things done in the Middle East, the Middle East would be the most successful region in the world. Goodness knows we have tried violence there throughout the 21st century. It doesn't work.

And this president continues to try to press that button of, well, we'll just bomb more things. That is not how we are actually going to architect ties of commerce and culture between our allies that stabilizes the region and that marginalizes the ayatollahs.

CORNISH: But to follow up on this, at Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day, the president actually spoke about the 13 service members who have been killed since the start of U.S. strikes with Iran. I want you to listen to that and give me your response on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: 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)

CORNISH: What do you make of how he talked about their memory in the context of this war?

AUCHINCLOSS: I'm glad the president talked about their memory and honored their bravery on Memorial Day. I think Memorial Day should be a day that transcends politics. Certainly, it was for me yesterday with my family.

But it's incumbent upon the commander-in-chief and upon policymakers in Congress to ensure that when we ask individuals to make the ultimate sacrifice, when we ask them to deploy away from their families, that we're doing so with a righteous and well-thought- through strategy. [06:55:00]

Regrettably, that's just not the case here. I think it's important to do a brief chronology of how we wound up here. In his first term, the president tore up Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, didn't replace it with anything. Then he goes back last year and buries their nuclear facility under a mountain of rubble. I think that was a strong move to establish air dominance.

But then this year, he has tried to use that air dominance he established to make up for the fact that he has no actual plan to prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon. And the result is --

CORNISH: Now, Congressman, I want to jump in here for one second, because I think there's a lot of talk about the timeline going in. What I don't hear from Democrats is what they think should happen going out. The U.S. is now in this. And what is it that you offer the voters as Democrats to say, this is the path forward, this is what a win would look like now that we are in what you all are calling a quagmire?

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes. Well, the first thing is to prevent it from becoming a quagmire, which means we need to pass a war powers resolution in Congress, House and Senate. And we are making progress on doing so to take back the steering wheel from this president and his disastrous foreign policy.

The first thing to do when you're digging a hole is stop digging. Got to get the Strait of Hormuz open. And then we need to knit together the Abraham Accords to establish air defense, energy infrastructure and technology ties to help them defend themselves against Iran. Because what we don't need is for the United States to get drawn into a third forever war in the Middle East or Central Asia. And that's where this man is taking us.

CORNISH: Well, Congressman, it's your mention of the Abraham Accords, it's making me think you need to back to the show. We were talking about that earlier. Hope to talk to you again soon.

AUCHINCLOSS: I'd enjoy it.

CORNISH: All right. I want to turn now to you guys. We're at the start of the week, given the holiday. What's in your group chat, Isaac?

DOVERE: You know, I had a story last week that forced the DNC to release their autopsy of what happened in the --

CORNISH: Well, just a little story people may have heard.

DOVERE: No. Yes.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOVERE: And I will say that all through the holiday weekend, still, I had a lot of texts from people asking, what is the future there? And does Ken Martin, the DNC chair, have a future, or is he --

CORNISH: Are you just telling us about the nice text?

DOVERE: Well, they were some of them saying he should not have a future.

CORNISH: Yes.

ROCHA: Easy now.

CORNISH: Yes. It comes back around. Listen --

ROCHA: Full circle out all. That ain't in my Group Chat.

CORNISH: I mean, this is the kind of propaganda I can get behind. No, I'm curious. Is that in your Group Chat? I feel like Democrats had a lot of thoughts about what went wrong.

ROCHA: This weekend, if you were following my Twitter, I was interviewed for the autopsy and I'd given my thoughts. And I think there's some good things to come out of it, but I'm not going to be part of the pile on because I've been in that leadership chair.

CORNISH: Yes, there's autopsy and then there's live vivisection, which I think is the process we're in now.

ROCHA: But in my group chat -- let's get back to my group chat, you'll see that pivot, is the California governor's race. And that's what's in my Group Chat right now.

CORNISH: Lots to text about that.

ROCHA: As the head of all Latinos, as we've talked about on this program, we are excited.

CORNISH: Is that why you have that hat?

ROCHA: We're excited that there could be the first ever Latino governor of the great state of California. Who would have thought that that Beccera, who was nowhere two months ago, is leading this thing now, who's been outspent by a progressive billionaire, evidently, who spent $250 million. Why don't me and you have that media contract. And is only can get above 13 percent. So, I think history can be made in California.

CORNISH: Well, either way, it is a wild race, big state. And I have been shocked at the turns there, like a lot of people.

ROCHA: Craziness.

CORNISH: Brad, what about you? What's in your Group Chat?

TODD: It's also a California race, though, but it's just for mayor of L.A. Spencer Pratt.

CORNISH: Oh, yes. TODD: Republicans, including people who are --

CORNISH: Have you been Pratt killed?

TODD: Yes, I'm telling you --

CORNISH: I made that up.

TODD: I'm telling you --

CORNISH: Spencer, don't take that.

TODD: If you're a Republican, your Instagram feed is full of Spencer Pratt, period. Anywhere in America. And that's why I keep getting asked about. Does he have a chance? Karen Bass deserves to be --

CORNISH: You know, I think anyone who has a chance, who has a sophisticated use of social media and we have a weird -- like with Kamala didn't quite work. But for the internet's boyfriend, Mayor Mamdani, it did work. And I need to see another sample before I start calling it a trend.

DOVERE: It's not just the medium, it's the message.

CORNISH: It is. It is. But clicks aren't always a thing. There's a lot of pop stars. We're talking about that on the pod who are finding out that social media doesn't equal ticket sales.

DOVERE: But, look, to Brad's point that whether best deserves to be or not, there is a lot of just feeling in Los Angeles about how bad the situation is, not just because of the fires, but because --

CORNISH: Post strikes. Post -- yes, exactly. The city suffered.

DOVERE: And that is (INAUDIBLE) is clearly getting channeled into Pratt's candidacy. Whether it'll be enough, we'll see.

TODD: It's hard for a Republican to win a mayor's race in a big city. But when they do, it's with mayors like Karen Bass.

CORNISH: I know. There's like a Democratic mayor in Miami. And then I guess there's going to be a Republican mayor.

ROCHA: And you know something's going on when in Washington, D.C. -- and I put my wife's business out there, you know, I've been talking about Spencer Pratt because she come in, it was like, are you following this Pratt thing in L.A.? And I was like, what is a 35-year- old black woman in D.C.? And he goes, no, I like him. And I was like, something's happening.

CORNISH: Yes.

ROCHA: It means -- as a political consultant, I'm like, oh, a focus group at the House. Tell me more, Ebony. What's going on with Spencer Pratt?

CORNISH: It is. Yes.

[07:00:00]