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U.S. & Iran Trade New Strikes, Trump Won't Rush a Deal; DOJ Launches Criminal Probe into Trump Accuser E. Jean Carroll; Massive Data Centers: National Security Risk? Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired May 28, 2026 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:05]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Developing overnight, new U.S. defensive strikes in Iran just days after it looked like there was actual progress on ending the war. Are the GOP's Iran hawks getting into the president's head?
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We can make a good deal right now, but maybe not a great deal. And if it's not a great deal, we're not making it.
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CORNISH: The Trump Justice Department goes after a woman who accused Donald Trump of rape. Isn't this the kind of weaponization the president rails against?
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JILL BIDEN, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: As I watched it, I thought, oh my God, he's having a stroke.
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CORNISH: Former first lady on Joe Biden's debate meltdown. Would some transparency have saved the 2024 election for Democrats?
And high drama far below the Earth. Five people await rescue after searchers found them alive in a flooded cave.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five alive. We find them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And a fitting site for a president who loves a good fight. A UFC stage rising next to the White House. Is the coming cage fight about politics or patriotism?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They thought they were going to outwait me. You know, we'll outwait him. He's got the midterms. I don't care about the midterms.
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CORNISH: Now, there is something the president might care about. Hawkish Republicans who don't want him to cut and run.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. So, what happened? Just a few days ago, Trump was talking again about a deal to end the war. It all sounded good. Then some details leaked out.
And new this morning, more attacks from both Iran and the U.S. Iran's Revolutionary Guard saying they targeted a U.S. air base, an air base in Kuwait. It says it just fought off -- it fought missiles and drone attacks.
And this came just hours after the U.S. hit Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz, the second such defense strikes this week. The president, frustrated with enemies and allies alike as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
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TRUMP: We'll watch over it. But nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have. They would like to control it. Nobody's going to control it. It's international waters, and Oman will behave just like everybody else who will have to blow them up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, this brings us back to those Iran hawks. Here's Senator Lindsey Graham.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): To our Arab allies, you need to help President Trump. You need to embrace the fact that it is now time to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, make peace with Israel, build on the Abraham Accords. And if you say no to him, you say no at your own peril.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, today in the group chat, we've got Tamara Keith, senior political correspondent at NPR; Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director; and Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.
Tamara, I want to start with you and the messaging from the president yesterday, because we started the week with people like Graham, et cetera, saying, Well, wait a second. We don't want to give away the store here. What do you think the president was trying to accomplish in the way he
sent his message yesterday?
TAMARA KEITH, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NPR: He has been back and forth and back and forth in his message. In essence, though, he still is saying that he wants Iran to have no nuclear weapons, to get the dust, as he calls it, out.
And it's still not clear that that deal is in hand when he talks about the midterms.
CORNISH: In the same conversation.
KEITH: In the same conversation, that absolutely is not a message that politicians and people on the political side of things want to hear. But it's a message that he's trying to send that, oh, no, I don't want this deal so badly I'm going to make a bad deal.
Even though most of the signals he's been sending for weeks is that he wants this deal really, really, really badly.
CORNISH: Yes. Or, frankly, the things you would have to do to get a deal are going to be unpalatable to someone, not just Iran.
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: And I'd rather they be unpalatable to Lindsey Graham, I think, than most others.
The president has found himself in a situation that, at some point -- forget the midterms and all of this stuff. He has to extract himself out, not just for the good of the party, but for the good of the country, for the good of affordability. All of those things involved.
CORNISH: And the parts of the world lapsing into shortages, right?
DUBKE: And parts of the world -- exactly right. So, at some point, let's see what we can get as a deal.
[06:05:03]
I think this chirping -- he talks about the chirping of the Democrats. I'm not -- more worried about the chirping of the hawks on the other side that's keeping us in this limbo that is detrimental to our country and to the world.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: I mean, he put us there, right? Like we are in a war that we didn't need to be in. This was -- he said he obliterated the nuclear thing last summer. Obviously, that wasn't true. I don't think it's true now.
I mean, we had a nuclear agreement that he pulled out of in his first term. This whole thing is so unnecessary.
And the only people who are suffering here are the American people. And the rest of the people in the world that are suffering from all those shortages. It's just -- it's unconscionable that we cannot get out.
DUBKE: I am going to push back. Just the -- the initial foray into this, to accomplish and to degrade Iran, was worth it. But now we're now weeks -- weeks -- into something that shouldn't be continuing.
HAYS: But then why -- what were the strikes last summer when he said he obliterated the nuclear program? So, then, why do we need to do it again?
DUBKE: It's like a preamble.
HAYS: So, somewhere -- somewhere along -- somewhere along the line, he's not telling the truth. And I think that's what that's involved.
CORNISH: Let me stop, because I think you guys are exactly where the conversation -- the conversation is in a quagmire, almost as well as what's going on between Iran.
It's -- it's not clear to me what this White House has in terms of their -- what's acceptable to them beyond the nuclear issue. And the reason why we care about that is because the number of steps between where we are and the nuclear issue are vast.
KEITH: Yes. And negotiating an agreement on the nuclear issue is incredibly technical and challenging. And that doesn't seem to be the point where they are at this point.
You know, this is a real challenge for -- for the president, for the White House to find a way out of this. That is a win.
CORNISH: And which is when you start being like, what about the Abraham Accords?
KEITH: Yes.
CORNISH: What about the allies? What about what about what about. And weirdly, everyone on your right, everyone who supported you now is suddenly an Iran expert.
Here is one of them. Bill Maher. Bill Maher was on Billy Bush's "Hot Mics" podcast.
DUBKE: Bill Maher is to the right now?
CORNISH: Not to the right; supporting of.
DUBKE: OK.
CORNISH: But you know what? Makes sense of this politics when you hear it?
DUBKE: Here he is.
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BILL MAHER, TV HOST: There's still a possibility that that regime will be overthrown. My personal feeling is they missed their window. They should -- they should have started the war when the people were in the streets, because that was the time to do it.
Thought it was a good idea to try. I thought they (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up a lot of what they are actually doing it. And now let's not make a bad situation worse. Let's -- let's get out of this as cleanly as we can.
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HAYS: It goes to, like, why are we there in the first place? What was the -- what was the goal of all of this?
CORNISH: Can you talk about some of his points there?
DUBKE: I'm just trying to figure out where my sunglasses are so I can be more thoughtful for you this morning.
KEITH: All it takes is a --
CORNISH: He was on a podcast.
DUBKE: You know why? He pretends to be an Iran expert? I'm going to pretend to be a military expert.
You know why we didn't go in earlier when there were those protests? Because we were busy over in Venezuela. We had no troops over there. We had to move our assets across the world in order to be there. There are a lot of other things at play here.
But his final point, I think, is spot on, and it's what we're all saying today. And I don't want to put words in your mouth. It's time.
CORNISH: I kind of know what she's going to say.
HAYS: Why are we in Venezuela? Like, what are we doing here? I mean --
CORNISH: OK, we laugh because it's terrifying. But I think we're going to have more people talking about this later, because while we're sitting here talking about this, the Strait of Hormuz being closed, the people of Iran remain under the regime that has held them down forever.
And people are asking, what is next? I want to turn to this. E. Jean Carroll, remember that name? Well, she now joins Trump's retribution list through the Justice Department. They are now investigating this Trump accuser.
And then we're going to turn to former first lady Jill Biden, opening up about the night that, frankly, doomed her husband's bid for a second term.
And a search is underway after a deadly incident at a Washington state factory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mill workers I've talked to want full
accountability. They want a comprehensive, unbiased investigation into how this could have happened.
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[06:13:46]
CORNISH: It's now 13 minutes past the hour. Here are five things making news this morning.
Recovery crews are searching for nine people presumed dead after an industrial incident at a Washington state paper plant. At least two others have been confirmed dead after a tank containing hazardous chemicals ruptured on Tuesday.
Now, the incident also injured eight people, and it led to a chemical spill in the Columbia River.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five alive. We find them.
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CORNISH: So, new video showing the moment divers found five of the seven people who were trapped in a cave in Laos for more than a week.
The men were found sitting on a rocky ledge, surrounded by flood waters. Rescuers are now focused on getting them supplies and preparing them for the difficult extraction process.
Two others are still missing.
And federal officials are downplaying allegations of inhumane conditions inside an ICE detention facility in New Jersey. Lawmakers and attorneys have reported detainees being given spoiled food with worms or mold.
Families say some detainees have gone on a hunger strike and labor strike and have faced retaliation.
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GABRIELA SOTO, WIFE OF DETAINEE: They're singling him out. This is a collective, unified team of over 300 detainees across all units inside. It is not just a one person.
[06:15:11]
MARKWAYNE MULLIN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: There was only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat, because they want their ethnic group -- or their ethnic right food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want.
The fact is, we're giving them the calories they want. This isn't Holiday Inn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, protesters have gathered outside the facility all week in support of the hundreds of detainees.
And a Google software engineer accused of using inside information to make bets on the prediction market platform, Polymarket.
Prosecutors say he placed "yes" and "no" bets related to who would be the most searched person on Google, and he made roughly $1.2 million in the process.
And the Department of Justice launching a fresh criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll. She's the former magazine columnist who accused President Trump of sexual assault.
The investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in her two civil lawsuits against the president.
Carroll was awarded a total of $88.3 million from the two civil suits. Both judgments remain unpaid and under appeal.
I was sort of surprised to see this name and this case come back, especially after going through the civil system. But I guess we shouldn't be.
KEITH: You know, in -- in the criminal justice system.
CORNISH: But we're not that. We're in the Trump Justice Department.
DUBKE: I want to go, "Dun, dun, dun."
HAYS: Yes.
KEITH: What I was going to say is that in -- convictions aren't even the goal, necessarily. Investigations are -- are painful. They are expensive. And that can be enough in this broader --
CORNISH: Yes. So, that's Trump just wants to put people --
DUBKE: Well, that is the difference. And I think what we really need to talk about in the -- in the previous iterations of DOJ, they did go after political enemies. They did utilize the IRS for political reasons. They just did it quietly.
Trump puts a lot of this stuff out there in front of the public, because I think you're exactly right. The pain point is the --
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: -- is the -- is the point.
CORNISH: Yes. Though, to be clear, the allegations about the prior Justice Department, I'm not going to fight you on that. But there's some factual things we want to go through and talk about. DUBKE: Sure.
CORNISH: I understand the position of Trump-era White House and officials. I can't make this comparable list, necessarily, for a Biden White House or an Obama White House. But at this point --
DUBKE: You can't, because they were a lot quieter about it, or more quiet about it than what the Trump administration --
HAYS: Or they were guilty. I mean --
DUBKE: Well, look, look, there are several Republicans who will say Eric Holder was the -- was the exact -- Eric Holder was as political, if not more, than any DOJ in the first Trump administration and probably was the gold standard by which this Trump administration is utilizing the DOJ.
CORNISH: I know that's what people will say, but --
DUBKE: I will say that.
CORNISH: -- what I want to do a shout-out for is I hope there is still a world where there are people in law enforcement and in justice who believe that that is a separate branch of government and that their investigations are objective.
I know we don't believe that anymore, but I want that for you.
DUBKE: Well --
CORNISH: After the race on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to be talking about this whole thing to build data centers. It comes with a lot of risks, not just the ones you expect. A national security expert is going to be here to talk about what's at stake.
And then we're going to have a live look at the construction of the arena for UFC 250 on the White House lawn.
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[06:22:40]
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can either be controlled by A.I. or we can control our future and dictate how we're going to utilize A.I. and what it's going to look like.
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CORNISH: Across the country, communities are grappling with the A.I. boom and the massive data centers that feed it.
According to data from environmental activist Erin Brockovich, there are well over 100 A.I. data centers, either already built, under construction, or being proposed nationwide. And each of them have a massive need for electricity to power the computers inside and water to keep them cool.
The cost of that energy consumption, the threat to the water supply, the health risks, it's got a lot of people worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Together, we can make them listen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every year we pray for rain. We're worried about rain. We're worried about our water. We live in the desert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is probably not my type of a crowd. So, what do we have in common? We don't like being treated poorly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: But there's one more thing. We've got a former Defense Department official saying there is another security risk being overlooked with these giant data centers.
And joining the group chat is Jason Rathje, former director of the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital, also the president of public at webAI.
So, you're in the industry, but you're also raising this concern. And mostly, people have been talking about environmental issues. What is the national security risk to you that has surfaced in the last couple of weeks and months?
JASON RATHJE, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE PENTAGON'S OFFICE OF STRATEGIC CAPITAL: Well, first of all, good morning, and thank you for having me on.
CORNISH: Yes, of course.
RATHJE: you know, I think any time you centralize power, data, and now artificial intelligence, you create an acute threat for our adversaries. And I think you only have to look back in the last few weeks at the Iranian bombing of data centers in the Middle East to see the potential effect of -- of centralized A.I. through data centers and the impact that can have on our operations.
CORNISH: Yes. Which people were surprised about, right? I mean, doing desalination plants, something like that is really considered quite serious crime.
Military bases somehow seem like, in war, a fair target. The data centers, I feel like, surprised a lot of folks.
RATHJE: Data centers are in a gray zone. You know, they cater to our commercial and civilian needs, but they also cater to supporting our military operations.
And we're seeing organizations and the government become dependent on A.I. systems that enhance military capabilities or enhance our everyday way of life. CORNISH: Now, one of the things I notice is the president invoked
Section 303 of the Defense Production Act, which basically said that -- that power grid infrastructure is essential when it comes to national defense. And he wanted to fast-track the supply chains and the shifts there.
Everyone I know has been talking about the infrastructure and the power grid forever. Is there a way to shore it up defensively?
RATHJE: I mean, 100 percent, you know, our power grids and energy infrastructure are critical to our U.S. national and economic security.
But I think we need to be thinking about alternative approaches to A.I. You know, at webAI, we focused on local first approaches, A.I. that run on your laptops, on your tablets, on your phones as little data centers in your pocket.
That's the A.I. that allows us to minimize the strain on the grid while still maximizing the use of this technology for our day-to-day life.
CORNISH: The other thing we noticed -- we were doing research for this segment, and there was this fascinating thing. "Wired" was reporting that law enforcement agencies around the country have noted a threat coming from a new kind of, they said, category of people and activities.
People who are against A.I. and data centers and sort of, like, they're worried, could take some sort of action.
You're nodding. Is it something you've heard about or you're just not surprised?
RATHJE: Well, I think any time you believe that the only way to access the next generation of technology is by renting it -- you know, we think about centralized A.I. as you have to rent A.I., instead of --
CORNISH: Well, not that we think. They make us pay for credits. Yes.
RATHJE: A hundred percent. Right? And you know, at webAI, we're focused on providing solutions where individuals can own their A.I. You know, we work with big fitness companies, with tech companies. We also work with industrials and steel makers.
CORNISH: But I feel you offering this service, because there is a lane for people who will, instead of looking at communities and saying, this data center is good for you, A.I. is coming. There's nothing you can do about it.
There is now a lane to appeal to a customer or frustrated citizen who feels like they're being steamrolled by the process. Is that what you're seeing? Like, is this a bipartisan issue? Is this somehow an independent issue?
KEITH: I think that this is going to be a major political issue going forward. And you -- you see it. I talk to swing voters regularly, people who've voted for both parties. These voters are bringing up A.I. and data centers to me, unsolicited, and they're very concerned.
They're concerned about what it means for jobs, but they're also concerned about these centers going into their communities when they don't want them there. And -- and just the sense of powerlessness that people feel, that this steamroller is coming through.
CORNISH: I understand that your company is trying to offer an alternative to the grid system, but the flip side is the biggest players in the industry are doing the plunk down the data center system.
Is there any sense in the industry that they need to figure out how to talk about the energy concern, whether it's putting in money, whether it's them being taxed, whether -- or are they just like, it's fine. We'll build a solar panel on just our roof and call it a day.
Like, do they see this as an issue they're going to have to mitigate if they want to move forward?
RATHJE: I mean, we see the technology advancing so rapidly that there's multiple solutions that companies are pursuing today, whether that's --
CORNISH: So, they're pursuing them, at least?
RATHJE: A hundred percent. I mean, and we see --
CORNISH: Yes. Is it because they understand the public response or just because the data need is so big?
RATHJE: Well, I mean, you see the messaging changing over the last few years. You know, you see the -- you know, whether the messaging is about safety or security, about data or power. There's so many things happening in the industry that I think it's just confusing to people about, like, what is actually going on.
And what we're really focused on and what I see the industry pivoting to is providing smaller models, more efficient models that run on lower-power devices.
I mean, you don't think about how much it costs you to charge -- to toast a piece of bread. Right? And that is really what it requires to run A.I. models locally.
It's only through these centralized data centers that are built on these kind of antiquated business models that create these dependencies that I think scare people.
CORNISH: OK, well, I hope to have you back. It's always nice to have someone inside the industry running a business, trying to figure these things out and can help us understand where it's going. Jason, thank you so much.
RATHJE: Thank you. CORNISH: All right. Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, are you
skipping breakfast? Because there's a troubling report showing that putting food on the table has become a huge concern for more American families.
Plus, it was hard for a lot of us to watch. But former first lady Jill Biden says she was terrified during that disastrous 2024 presidential debate.
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